10 Best HGTV Shows of All Time, Ranked
HGTV started taking viewers into homes and gardens 30 years ago, launching in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1994. And since then, the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned cable channel has exploded in popularity, thanks in large part to its married hosting teams… and a few hosting duos aren’t married but argue like they are!
From three decades of programming, here are our picks for the best-ever HGTV shows — with longevity, impact, and fan fervor considered.
Fixer to Fabulous
This renovation show set in Bentonville, Arkansas, lives up to its name, with spouses Dave and Jenny Marrs teaming up to give new life to their slice of small-town America. The show is so popular — and their work is so bellissimo — that HGTV gave the Marrses an overseas spinoff with Fixer to Fabulous: Italiano.
Good Bones
On this HGTV show, the construction work is messy, but the behind-the-scenes drama is even messier, with host Mina Starsiak Hawk feuding with costar Cory Miller and relatives Tad Starsiak and Karen E. Laine. Like their Indianapolis renovations, Mina’s relationships with her friends and family are works in progress… and we’re all hoping for a beautiful final product.
Flip or Flop
Speaking of tense onscreen families, Tarek El Moussa and Christina Hall flipped Orange County houses on this long-running HGTV show while they were married and even after their dramatic divorce. And it’s this seminal show fans have to think for all the HGTV shows the former spouses have hosted since.
The Carol DuVall Show
One of the O.G. HGTV offerings, this series ran for more than a decade and featured the handiwork of the late Carol Duvall, the “Queen of Crafts.” Duvall had been showing off craft projects on TV for eons by the time HGTV got going in 1994, and her expertise was a boon to the then-fledgling network.
Home Town
Laurel, Mississippi, is getting a spruce-up one house at a time with this HGTV show, hosted by the affable renovation team (and married couple) Ben and Erin Napier. Fans don’t always like the Napiers’ design decisions, but you can’t argue with their Southern charm.
House Hunters
Sure, House Hunters might not be the most real of HGTV’s reality shows, but it’s such a comfort TV staple that it has inspired umpteen spinoffs. And we’ll still watch any episode — especially to see couples lay out their unrealistic and often contradictory wishlists while their hapless real estate agents just shake their heads.
Love It or List It
We don’t know the fate of Love It or List It, which pitted Hilary Farr and David Visentin against one another as the former renovated houses for homebuyers and the latter tried to lure those homebuyers toward other properties. Farr has left the show, leaving Visentin without a sparring partner, and if someone replaces her, they’ll have a tough act to follow.
House Hunters International
House Hunters’ first and best spinoff improves on the original, featuring individuals or families moving to faraway locales and looking at real estate options. Canal-side homes in The Netherlands, rainforest treehouses in Australia, modern mansions in Thailand — watching House Hunters International is like moving into a vacation home.
Fixer Upper
Many homes in Waco, Texas, would be worse for the wear — and many TV viewers would be unaware of shiplap — if it weren’t for married renovation superstars Chip and Joanna Gaines. They’ve moved onto their own cable channel now, but they boosted HGTV’s presence immeasurably while hosting Fixer Upper. HGTV’s loss is Magnolia Network’s Gaines, um, gain.
Property Brothers
Property Brothers is a proper empire now, with many spinoffs, books, apps, a magazine, and a podcast starring twin brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott. But the show that started it all is still our favorite, with Drew scouting out homes needing some attention and Jonathan giving those homes another heyday. And the bros’ personalities — their razzing of each other and their groan-worthy jokes — have us hooked on it all.
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BlueUmbrella
Where is Bargain Block? House Hunters International, give me a break. Perhaps I’m in the minority, but I prefer seeing programs I can relate to. I’m not going to Europe & l am not spending millions on a purchase.
GoldCocktail
Saddened to see Married to Real Estate with Egypt and Mike or 100 day Dream Home with Mika and Brian did not make your top ten list, saddened but not surprised so typical !
GoldBlowdryer
Why do we have to be subjected to watching David Bromstad and My Lottery Dream Home. It’s on all the time!!! Why can’t you run some of the older shows from over the years! I really hope the powers that be will see this!!!! Thank you…
RS
I miss Design on a Dime. You could learn how to do improvements that didn’t cost a fortune.
lauriealexander
Really? Castle Impossible? Maine cabin Masters? Come on y'all!
PurpleFlame
I agree about House Hunters Intl. Not a bad show but on way to much! The older shows are the best and they seem to be gone.
Reader
Wow, I thought this rating would be off, but not right at all. It seems like fanboy rating.im mean Fixer Upper, that's been years ago. The Saga of Tarek and his ex, is like rating politician's ads, which do you like.Hometown, Fixer to Fabulous,Always near the top HH, HHI,Good Bones? reruns in a new location, nope.Everyone else, stick a pin in them their done......I'm just saying!
Reader
List is backwards to us one ive never heard of Carol deval ???? Never heard of it watch HGTV every dayAnd a few show are no l8 ger on just reruns