All of a sudden, homebuilders are Hollywood hip. You can't turn on the boob tube these days without seeing a residential construction show. It started inconspicuously enough, with quality shows like "This Old House." In those old episodes, it was easy to determine which guy was the builder or general contractor ... He was the bland, unassuming guy that struggled to spit out two consecutive sentences. You could tell he was self-conscious in front the camera.

The next phase of builders on TV was characterized by some quality programming, such as "Dream Builders," on HGTV. Then came the reality TV craze and TV homebuilders "jumped the shark." (A reference to the infamous episode of "Happy Days" in which Fonzie--still in his leather jacket--waterskied over a shark tank. That episode has been credited as "the beginning of the end" for "Happy Days" and spawned a great Web site (www.jumpedtheshark.com) used to determine the downfall of other TV shows.) You know what I am talking about ... shows like "Monster House" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

The TV image of the staid, responsible builder has been replaced with the spiky-haired, bullhorn-carrying, obnoxious dunce screaming commands, or the tattooed former biker who has to defer to a buxom hostess wearing skin-tight pants for construction advice.

We know that these guys are not the real homebuilders, but most Americans don't. On these shows, the actual homebuilder is shoved to the side with a single 10-second sound bite, or even completely left on the editing room floor.

Sadly, one highlight in many of the TV projects is home electronics. I spoke recently with an interior designer who is now being confronted with homeowners requesting gaudy Vegas-style kitchens and great rooms with "the biggest TV you can find," even though the rooms are too small to accommodate it.

This is especially frustrating to me since TecHome Builder has spent the past four years telling builders, "technology is your friend." We have devoted lots of ink to video, as in flat-panel TVs, big-screen TVs, front-projection systems, and multiroom video distribution. I fear we might have contributed to the "house-construction media mania" by touting larger and larger TVs.

There is a lesson in all this. Teach your homebuyer the "four-finger test." It's a simple way to determine the proper 16:9 configuration television size for a room. With your arm outstretched holding four fingers upward, stand at the optimal viewing location for the new TV (where the couch or recliner will be placed). Your four upright fingers should cover the screen horizontally edge to edge. Now have an associate mark that distance on the wall and measure it. That is the TV's proper horizontal measurement for the room. (TVs are measured diagonally, so remember that you are determining the horizontal size with this test.)

If the homebuyer already has a big-screen TV, you can conduct the same four-finger test on his existing set to help you determine exactly how far back the "optimal viewing location" is from the television. Sometimes, the conclusion is that the room is just too small to accommodate a really large TV. This advice comes courtesy of the Imaging Science Foundation (www.imagingscience.com). If you can't figure this out, contact me directly.

Oh, and by the way, you don't need a bullhorn to conduct the test.

Jason Knott
editor
jknott@ehpub.com