They've Cancelled the Gardener Guy
and We're Not Going to Take it Any More!
About a year ago, I wrote how annoyed I was that there were no real gardening shows on the air except "Gardening by the Yard". Well, it seems there will no longer be an exception. HGTV, in their quest to become the network of youth, conspicuous consumption and people with lifestyles instead of lives, has decided to pull the plug on Paul James. So much for the 'G' in HGTV.
They said gardening doesn’t sell and only old people garden. Well, we may be a seasoned, thrifty bunch, but gardening is still the #1 hobby in America.
I could go on for pages with my anger at HGTV and their idea of landscaping. (They actually painted the rocks red, in one of their 1 day garden make over shows, so there would be some color in the garden.) But my rants won't help the situation. The Happy Hobby Habit (aka sewobsessed at GardenWeb) has organized an email blitz of Scripps Networks Executive Offices and advertisers. We're going to hit their email boxes on Monday, April 13th. Nothing usually comes of these efforts, but so many of us are frustrated at being blown off again, we just have to try.
Happy Hobby Habit has some of the contact info posted already and more to come. We’re asking people to pass the idea along to other gardeners. The more the better. I’ll remind you again on the 13th.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Comments
Thank you, Thank you. I have sent an e-mail protesting to HGTV and will join you on April 13. I used to watch HGTV daily, but now only on occasion. It’s just for “The Rich & Famous” now.
What about the shows on the cable channel Create? They have “P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home”, “Cultivating Life”, “Garden Smart”, “Smart Gardening” and yes, even “Victory Garden”. It’s my new favorite cable channel. They have many other “creative” shows from A-Z that cover just about every interest. If you don’t get Create in your area call your cable company and ask for it. I love it!
Red painted rocks LOL!I agree about gardening shows on HGTV. Simply tearing everything out and putting in all new plants isn’t gardening. Gardener’s Diary is the exception and a good show. It doesn’t seem to cater to the oh so powerful 18 to 34 demographic. I really don’t understand the logic behind limiting your audience to a small percentage of the population. Any trip to a garden center will tell you that all ages like to garden! We need a vegetable and fruit gardening show.
Ron, I’ve never heard of Create. We’re not getting it yet, in my area. I guess I’ll have to start making some phone calls.
The line-up looks great and it’s nice to see qualified hosts rather than telegenic spokesmodels doing the presenting. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
I will miss that show, it was the only reason I watched hgtv.
If you watch PBS and/or Create you’ll get a lot of info on gardening. And it doesn’t cost you anything!
Maybe part of the problem is too many (especially ad exec.) see gardening as a hobby, instead of a way of life. I think raising fresh vegetables, fruit,& herbs to eat makes good economical sense. It’s healthier too. Plenty of us “old” people use products or eat at restaurants from the advertising list. Maybe they have forgotten the buying power of us “old” people.
I’m even disappointed in the gardening segments on the major networks. I’ll stick with About.com experts
Unfortunately, Norma Jean, nothing is free. Although PBS does a wonderful job with minimal advertising dollars, they do get tax dollars.
Gardening By The Yard was the best show and I always tried to see every show. Paul would tell you like it is. I don’t watch HGTV anymore because they don’t have anything worth watching now. It’s the same old thing all day long.
I’m sad about the gardener guy, but how many gardeners do you know that are parked in front of their TVs at 8:00 on a sat morning or something like that (obviously not me). And don’t get me started on those “landscaping” shows, have you seen that mulch?!?! Like Ron, I also just discovered “create” when we recently bought a digital TV and it’s great, they have shows that actually mention the names of plants and they’re not all based in Florida.I will definately be participating in the network “blitz”. Thanks for spreading the word.
Wow, that’s too bad. However, I haven’t watched it much anymore. On too early in the day. Red painted rocks. What a farce for us gardeners. I don’t watch HGTV much anymore. Tired of the buyer/seller shows.
I love Paul James………it’s my favorite show on HGTV. What a disappointment!
This is another reason why I cancelled my cable. In the end it’s been a great choice! I bought more subscriptions to gardening magazines and I end up with more time to spend in the garden and less in front of the tube. TV these days is a waste of time. Perhaps that’s why the show has been cancelled. Most gardeners would rather be out digging in the dirt! Oh, and for the record, I am under 30 years old and VERY chic!
I LOVE HGTV + GARDENING BY THE YARD! GONNA MISS PAUL
I DVR ever episode of Gardening By the Yard, otherwise I would never get to watch it. Paul was the only gardening show left. What a waste. Guess I’ll go work in my gardens now.
Thanks for the heads up. I was wondering what was going on with HGTV..there are many good shows missing. I’ll be sending an e-mail
I few years ago when I first became interested in planting a few things, I picked SO many tips from watching Paul. I will miss his show.
They might as well take the G out of HGTV! I can’t think of any gardening shows in their lineup, except for the landscaping in Curb Appeal.
I’ve given up on HGTV anyway…with the exception of one or two shows, the rest are loud, rude or trashy!
Iloved watching the gardener guy, he added a great sense of humor to learning. In these days of economic woes people should try to learn more about gardening to be able to sustain themselves, especially container gardenig for people who can’t afford a whole garden in a yard. Every penny counts nowadays, when living paycheck to paycheck is a dream for many that don’t even have a job.
I never liked HGTV anyway so its not biggie to me. In addition to WLIW Create, I like the few shows I find on the Planet Green channel and I really love the programming on a new channel I discovered…veria. it is all organic and alternative healing type stuff. It has organic gardening travel shows that are cool, and stuff about teas and using herbs for home remedies…its great!
You would think there would be more gardening shows with the economy the way it is.
I know I’m gonna be gardening more now to save a dollar or two.
I used to love HGTV! I watched all the time because of all the gardening shows. The Gardener Guy is the best!! I hardly watch at all anymore. Once again it’s the demographics that rule the air waves – if you’re over 35 and aren’t trendy then you don’t count. This is the final straw. I will never watch HGTV again and will definitely be letting the sponsors know how I feel. I am a gardener and proud of it!!
I’ve been upset at HGTV for several years now. Cancelling Paul James is the nail in their coffin for me. Their landscaping shows suck.
The gardening shows on Create are all re-runs. At least every Smart Gardening I’ve DVR’d has been.
This is horrible news. I will help spread the word on my blog. Paul James is the best gardening personality on TV. I hope another network snatches him up.
So much for the Garden part of Home & Garden TV. I record Paul James with my TIVO and watch when I want. No more, I guess. I hope he can find another network to carry the show. Guy’s like him always find a way.
Paul James’s show was probably the first show I started to watch on HGTV. How could they! Maybe he could find a new home on the DIY Network?
I love the gardner guy and I am very sad he’s gone. ‘OLD’? ha! I have been gardening since I could hold a small shovel as a child, and currently am 38 years old. Gardening is not just flowers, but fruits, veggies & herbs, and with the economy, there is a huge surge in people growing there own food. Whoever posted that gardening is not ripping and and starting over is absolutely right! Gardening is two parts hard work and one part magic!
Don’t they know that there are more home gardens going in this year than ever. People of all ages garden in Ark. and the women of the world control the finances so I’d say HGTV is just hurting themselves. By the way my husband and I are gardeners and we are only 40.
Email protests never go anywhere. You have to write an actual letter to have half a chance at getting any results. Happy Hobby Habit, please give us the mailing address of Scripts.
I used to love HGTV and watched or recorded it everyday now I seldom watch it. I am tired of just decorating shows, and all the construction stuff. I love to garden,do crafts and keep my house update but it isn’t the same network anymore. The DYI is not what I am looking for either…it’s mostly remodeling. I am retired and can’t do all the expensive remodeling they do now nor do I want to if I had the money. But of course I am not of the younger generation but I do spend money! I loved the Gardening Guy! Bring him back.
I totally agree with you! After complaining to HGTV about 2 years ago about the ever-decreasing amount of “G” shows in their HGTV schedule and being told in no uncertain terms that gardening doesn’t sell (but some 14-odd shows about how to buy, renovate, resell, flip and demolish your first, second or nineteenth house do?!), I told them that they had just lost many a customer. I cancelled my subscription to their channel and told all my gardening club friends to do the same! We’re still the consumer and we have to do something about it.
My children (6&9) have started a vegetable garden with tips they learned from Paul James.(Now they are in competition with thier great grandfather as to who has the best garden.) Just think of all the future gardeners who will miss out. It is a sad day when people think replacing plants as needed instead of nurturing them is gardening. Truth be told, they are just wasting money. Next thing you’ll know HGTV will start planting silk plants in front yards because they are drought resistent.
Oh I hate that!!! I noticed they had been moving the times for his show around. I wondered if they were easing him out. He gave such good advice. I will send an email on the 13th, and if I can get the address of HGTV, I will send them a letter of protest as well. I have done this a about other shows that either offended me or that I loved and was taken off the air. Nothing changed, but I sent my complaint, knowing that is all I could do.
Ladybirder, the idea behind the email blitz was to hit the network and all their advertisers on the same day, so they could see all at once that there was a gardening audience out there that is disappointed in them.
But if anyone would prefer to write, that would help too. Here are the addresses for the president of Scripps and of HGTV. (BTW, Scripps owns HGTV, Food Network, DIY, Fine Living Network and GAC (Great American Country)
John Lansing, President
Scripps Networks
P.O. Box 51850
Knoxville, TN 37950
Jim Samples, President
HGTV
P.O. Box 51850
Knoxville, TN 37950
Loved Gardening by the Yard. It was informative and enjoyable. Want it back!!!
This is unfortunate but not unexpected. The days of decent, useful DIY television are long gone. Even This Old House is nothing but 8000 sq. ft. monsters filled with McAntiques, Home Theaters, and giant stainless steel kitchens these days, and Victory Garden is mostly about looking at other gardens, not working in your own.
Rather than writing to sponsors for what I believe to be a lost cause, I think I’ll write to Comcast – please change me to Basic cable.
This show is the only one on HGTV I cared about. Watching people destroy their friends’ and neighbors’ homes holds little appeal, as does watching others shop for and/or try to sell real estate ad infinitum.
HGTV was the only channel I wanted that I couldn’t get without the premium package, so without Paul James I’m finally free. I can cancel premium and move that money from the “utilities” column to the “landscape” (maybe some to the “books and magazines”) column of my budget. Probably a better value there anyway. For what it saves every year, I bet I can subscribe to every garden magazine out there.
Gardening by the Yard is a great show. I’m sick and tired of House Hunting day and night in the US and now abroad. People NEED shows like Gardening by the Yard to get good gardening information, and that’s what Paul James did as a Master Gardener. More and more people will be trying to grow their own food as economic times get tougher. Now is NOT the time to cancel gardening shows.
It’s not just on TV that gardening doesn’t sell. Spring garden shows, such as the NW Garden Show in Seattle, are closing their doors. Hard-scaping is the name of the game. There is more money in “outdoor lifestyle” junk, like expensive furniture, backyard kitchens, ponds and pavers.
Real gardeners tend to be frugal. They share plants and seeds, improvise beds and trellises, and halleluja! they often used organic and home-made fertilizers and pesticides. You want garden shows on TV? Support public broadcasting, and let THEM know what you want to see!
Recent news articles suggest that home gardens will become more popular as the economy worsens…isn’t HGTV aware of this trend?
That is totally outrageous. I’ll be sending an eamil on the 13th and hope lots of others will also.
Their comment about only old people gardening is absurd. With the economy the way it is there has never been more interest in gardening. The stores are selling out of seeds as fast as they get them in.
I’ve been watching HGTV for years but find less every day that interests me.
At 8 am most gardeners are out side when it is cool to work here in the south.
To me there are to many good garden magazines. I do like birds n blooms, not to much about gardens but a quality magazine, printed on good paper, good pictures, good stories regarding birds, and some good stories re gardening. Just read last night an article about day lillies which I have serveral of. Also nice pond story.
Also here at the s.w. tip of Baton Rouge I
have raised blue gouramies for several years now. Something different besides gold fish.
God Bless
HELLO Gardeners and FANS of Paul James “The Gardener Guy”. First of all I work with Paul James and Paul and I love what you are doing.This is a great ground roots push to let HGTV know how much you love GBTY. Go to gardenerguy.com.
mus
More info. May 1st Paul James “The Gardener Guy” will launch his new website gardenerguy.com.Go to it now and see the count down. Let HGTV and Advertisers hear from you April 13th. Get Involved!!
Paul James was my favorite host on hgtv
I will miss Gardening By The Yard. It is my favorite show on HGTV. I set up my tv to come on at that time and watch with a cup of coffee then head out to the garden.
In reply to Brian and the website gardenerguy.com, when I go there, all I get is a block that is requesting a password. I really hope to see Paul having a site of his own up and running, and I will check back often. How about instead of contacting HGTV, why not just contact your cable provider. If you as I am tired of the programming on HGTV, let them (cable) know that you don’t want the channel anymore. I also heard about possible a la carte programming from cable. Was it here? The subscriber can go in and customize their line-up of channels as to exactly what they want. That sounds good to me!
I e-mailed hgtv about not having gardening shows on the air. And not to my suprize I got an automated e-mail back thanking me for my concerned and they would find out why and contact me back. Of course at this time I have not heard anything from them.
If GBTY wasn’t getting the ratings HGTV desired, maybe they should have tried airing the show WHEN PEOPLE WERE NOT OUT GARDENING!!! Common sense, you would think, but they did not even replay the show in the evening like most of the decorating shows. I’m not old (yet), (30) but I do garden (and quilt, actually) and will be very sad to be no longer entertained and educated by ‘The Gardening Guy’. I hope a wiser network picks him up.
Have you seen all the design shows on HGTV? Most makeovers are cheap looking. Gardening By The Yard was one of the best shows they broadcasted. Absolute fools for cancelling that show. They should fire the exec team.
You can thank IKEA for introducing cheap, UGLY, makeovers to mainstream America.
I can’t believe it! The Gardner Guy cancelled! My Sun. a.m. won’t be the same. I’ve enjoyed so many of the shows and Paul has introduced me to so many new plants and gardening products. Bad decision. I hope Paul will reconsider.
Anyone have the email of the person to contact ? And to think I live 10 minutes from Knoxville. HGTV is false advertising, if there is no Gardening…how can they name it Home and GArdening Television ?
I only watched it for Paul James….so now I guess I wont’ !