Housing Market & Hollywood

I stumbled across an interesting article on MSN.com about the salaries of TV characters and whether the lifestyle they live on the screen is realistic, given their on screen job. For example, Rachel Green from Friends, who was supposedly a coffee house waitress, was able to pay the rent on a huge NY apartment while also setting new fashion trends. Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City, was estimated to earn about $57,000 (as a NY columnist with 10 years of experience), while supporting her nice NY apartment and her Manolo Blahnik fetish.

This got me thinking about how TV shows could have had a part in creating the housing bubble we are in. TV programs only show lavishly apportioned homes which their characters live in. On Desperate Housewives, Terri Hatcher lives in a nice big suburban home, but I can't seem to recall ever seeing her work. The only thing she does is make an ass out herself while annoying the audience. Some of the homes that other TV characters live in are also outlandish, as mentioned in the MSN article. I suppose it wouldn't be very pleasing to see Terri Hatcher living in an apartment in San Pablo, but still.

Many people complain about how the media contributes to the eating disorders of females in this country. They say that by showing ONLY skinny women on TV, they reinforce a stereotype that influences young women to strive to be super skinny. What about TV shows that broadcast homes that are 4000-5000 sqft with spectacular views? Has anyone ever thought that this might influence the average person to always want to trade up from their existing home? Since the average person will never be happy with their current home (there are only so many homes with ocean views available that aren't in Richmond), they will always be looking for a new place. Instead of staying in the same place for 5-7 years, an average person may only stay in a home for 2 years, thereby increasing the number of home buyers on the market, which will subsequently create the ridiculous multiple over-bid climate that we are in.

Is it possible that some of this could be caused by ABC thinking that Terri Hatcher would look better in a 4000 sqft craftsmen home with crown moldings rather than the 1200 sqft fixer-upper that she deserves?

Maybe.