It took me a while to get into HGTV‘s hit show Home Town because I refused to believe hosts Ben and Erin Napier were for real. The Laurel, Mississippi natives speak in a sunny Southern twang and greet clients with twee watercolor paintings of what their fixer upper could look like. I thought they were too chipper, too earnest, too perfect to be real. But as Ben and Erin slowly ground my cynicism down, they opted to use their newfound fame in the most radically kind way possible. Home Town Takeover, one of the first big spin-offs of Home Town, doesn’t follow Ben and Erin as they expand their own empire, but as they help total strangers in Wetumpka, Alabama. Home Town Takeover might be the most optimistic show HGTV has ever produced.
Home Town first premiered on HGTV back in January 2016. Like HGTV hits Property Brothers and Fixer Upper, the series followed hosts Ben and Erin Napier as they sold run down houses to buyers and renovated the houses to feel like perfect homes. The twist in Home Town was that Ben and Erin were ardently committed to revitalizing their home town, Laurel, Mississippi. Each house toured came with a backstory about past owners and the hope that the new homeowners would stay in Laurel forever.
But Laurel, Mississippi is one small town. There’s only so many houses to renovate and lives to touch. Could Home Town dream any bigger? Well, yes. Home Town Takeover is a new limited series event where Ben and Erin Napier take their community-minded renovation philosophy on the road to revamp another small town in need of some hope. After receiving a wild number of applications from all over the country, HGTV and Home Town settled on the town of Wetumpka, Alabama. Like Laurel, it found its main street flagging after highways and malls came to the area. However, unlike Laurel, Wetumpka weathered a horrific tornado that nearly flattened the whole town.
Over the course of four months, Ben and Erin Napier are renovating local houses and revamping small businesses. Helping them along the way — since a new season of Home Town is also in production — are a who’s who of HGTV talent. It’s an all-hands on deck project that aims to have a small community believe in itself again.
The thing that is so striking about Home Town Takeover is that Ben and Erin have nothing to profit from it. While HGTV is full of shows about the power of having a home, money is always part of the equation. Budgets, profits, and unexpected costs drive the tension in every episode, while the most successful personalities chart their enormous financial growth on screen. The Property Brothers once built a show about building their dream mansion in Vegas. Chip and Jo Gaines of Fixer Upper not only are launching the Magnolia Network this summer but have a whole hour special about expanding their own Waco wonderland. How are Ben and Erin Napier leveraging their newfound power on HGTV? By helping other people.
The work that Ben and Erin are doing on Wetumpka will help the town’s main street bounce back, but more importantly, become something of a quaint tourist attraction. Much like Chip and Jo have made the Magnolia silos an Instagram mecca, you can imagine HGTV fans road tripping to Wetumpka to shop at Tapp18 and see the Big Fish house in person. (No, I don’t think it’s a coincidence HGTV picked a town that featured heavily in a Tim Burton film.) What Ben, Erin, and the Home Town have given to Wetumpka is a huge gift. And it’s indicative of the kind and generous spirit that defines Home Town as a show.
Home Town is the rare show that actually practices what it preaches. When Ben and Erin Napier speak fondly of wanting to see small towns flourish, they aren’t saying that because they see it as their schtick to sell on TV. Home Town Takeover proves that. Ben and Erin Napier are the most wildly kind people on HGTV and it’s powerful to see that kindness spread around.
Where to stream Home Town Takeover
Where to stream Home Town