Over Designed (TLC)

What happens when someone takes a design metaphor and goes overboard with it? OVER DESIGNED helps folks who've done just that -- whether it's plastering palm trees all over everything, embracing an African theme that's run amok, or a home that's overrun with too many penguins. In each episode, host Kenneth Brown gathers the featured person's friends and family members; together they stage an "intervention" and send the person off to a hotel while Brown and co. redo the problem room.

The show works for three reasons. First, the intervention is done with a great deal of kindness and love. Second, the issue usually isn't so much the person's passion as it is that someone else needs to share the space (and needs some room for their own style). And third, Brown manages to create spaces that take the reasons behind the person's passion into consideration. The woman who had a thing for palm trees, for example, associated the trees with vacations and resorts -- so she got a resort-themed room that honored her love without all of the palms.

And, of course, there are some good design hints for the viewing audience -- like using horizontal stripes on the wall of a small room to make it look bigger.

TV Rating: TV-G
Network: TLC
Genre: Reality TV
Where to watch: TLC