According to Loren Ruch, the group senior vice president of development and production for HGTV, Restored by the Fords has been officially replaced by Home Again With the Fords to capture the nostalgia of returning to one's childhood home (via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) — one of the founding aspects of the original series. This change came about over the last year when HGTV made a decision to add an emotional twist to its fix-'em-and-forget-'em home improvement format. "We are kind of stretching the HGTV brand. We are looking for more storytelling — deeper stories, richer stories — leaning more into emotions around relationships," said HGTV President Jane Latman in an interview with Variety.
This has meant big changes for the Fords, whose new show has expanded from 30- to 60-minute episodes and placed greater emphasis on the lives of the participants through fun interactions in the Pittsburgh community (via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). For example, in episode five of Home Again With the Fords, a woman returns to renovate her childhood home — one that just happens to be across the street from the home of the iconic Mister Rogers. In that same episode, we also get more family insight into Leanne and Steve, who help their mother restore her kitchen (via HGTV).
So while it is a shame that fans will lose Restored by the Fords, there is already a bigger and better show to fill the void.
