20 of the most relaxing reality TV shows to watch right now
19. Good Bones
As you might have guessed, HGTV has pretty well cornered the “relaxing reality TV” market. It’s not a monopoly by any means, but it’s likely that few people tune in to a home renovation network looking for drama, right? Even when truly gross homes are involved, the process of transformation involved holds a pretty motivating message.
Gross homes are vital to the concept of Good Bones, a real estate-based reality show centered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The series follows mother and daughter team Karen E. Laine and Mina Starsiak Hawk as they rehab various properties throughout their city.
“Rehab” is a kind word for what the duo have to do to a house to get it ready. The properties they take on are usually derelict and in pretty bad shape. Yes, that involves some “leavings” deposited there by previous tenants, both animal and human. Apparently, that’s why the pair doesn’t mind the homes with fire damage, as that helps to clear out some of the most disgusting stuff.
Maybe Good Bones is most relaxing because you, the viewer, don’t have to deal with any of that. And it’s practically a miracle to see a home go from almost falling down to a valuable property over the course of an episode.
Laine and Starsiak are focused on rehabbing homes in their city, and especially in their home neighborhood of Fountain Square. “It’s important to me to stay in the neighborhood where we live,” Laine told Indianapolis Monthly. “If you do one house in one ZIP code, and another in another ZIP code, you don’t have any effect on the neighborhood.”