While You Were Out
by Kevin
I had a post awhile back on the TLC program While You Were Out bemoaning the departure of Teresa Strasser and the arrival of the new host Evan. That post has attracted a fair amount of comments, most agreeing than Evan is no match for Teresa. Well, further verification has arrived as Slate admits than Evan is a bust:
Teresa Strasser, one of the hosts from the first season,* is a raven-haired, quick-witted hipster with an acid tongue, the kind of person who might make mordant jokes at funerals. (She’s been replaced by the handsome though dull Evan Farmer, but she thankfully lives on in reruns.)
While I agree that Evan is dull I don’t agree with the argument that the energy of the show comes from guy’s not liking what their wives have tricked them into. Sure, the potential for discord and unhappiness is there and gives the show some tension but I think the enjoyment comes from watching people work under pressure to transform a room from bland to cool over a weekend. Almost everyone has a room they don’t like but don’t have the time or creativity to work on (or the money!). While You Were Out allows people to live vicariously and ooh and ahh at the cool rooms or critique the ugly ones. Throw in the how well do you know your spouse quizzes and you have a home improvement show with emotions and risk. Bob Villa just can’t deliver that kind of show.
I still don’t like the new host or the new style of WYWO but it remains a show my wife and I can enjoy together (of course being weird we watch This Old House and Bob Villa’s Home again too).
I just discovered the show, and really enjoying Evan. Too dry without him.
The Slate piece was idiotic, by the way. One of those pieces that spent its entire length trying to sound cutesy. Blech!
I have been watching TLC’s “While you Were Out” for sometime. I am not particularly fond of the new male host of the program. He does not exhibit the magnetism that Theresa Strasser had, nor does he appear to mesh well with the rest of the crew. Ms. Strasser had a natural lively, vivacious personality that gave “While You Were Out” much needed spark and interest. The current host, who TLC replaced Theresa without comment of any kind, does not appear to be completely comfortable at anytime, has a personality comparable to wet cardboard, and drags the show’s to that of a snails pace. Although I have noticed that they have Theresa on occasional episodes aired recently, I am sure they are repeats of past episodes. TLC needs to bring Theresa back. There is a saying that would be appropriate for TLC to take notice of: “IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT!”. I am less apt to watch this program without Theresa on it. In it’s current format without her, “While You Were Out” it is a snooze and can effortlessly bore us all to tears!