The Mansion Reality TV Show

The Mansion Reality TV Show |Here's the actual mansion! This is what the back of the house looked like the night of the finale. Look to the left and you can see the red carpet!

The Mansion Reality TV Show - I Was One of the Judges!

Are you a reality television junkie? If so, then you might want to watch me on re-runs of The Mansion. I was fortunate to be cast as one of three judges responsible for critiquing the work efforts of eight young people who were contestants in this intense reality television show.

Where Was The Mansion Reality TV Show Recorded?

This very unique reality show was filmed right here in Cincinnati, OH where I live. The actual mansion was on the west side of Cincinnati at the intersection of Anderson Ferry Road and Cleves Warsaw Pike.

The red arrow points to the Mansion! It was still standing as of April 11, 2021.

When Did the Filming Begin?

Filming for The Mansion started the last two weeks of July and the final filming happened the first week of September 2004. The first episode aired on TBS the Superstation on October 2, 2004. The final episode aired in November 2004.

If you can locate this show on your cable-TV guide or one of the streaming video services like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon TV, you can then sit back and watch it on your flat-screen TV! Wait for the episode where outdoor gardening was the focus. Oh my!!!

What Was the Plot of the Show?

The plot of the Mansion TV show was to have eight young contestants compete against one another to see who would end up owning the mansion on the last episode. At first, they worked together on various renovation projects during the filming of the show. Then, as with all reality shows, the alliances started to form and the contestants began to claw and scratch at one another to be the winner.

How Were the Contestants Selected?

The contestants for The Mansion were picked from a nationwide search earlier in the summer.

What was the Actual Mansion House Like?

The actual house in the show was an old English Tudor home that sat on four acres of ground. It was a wonderful stately home in a nice neighborhood. The natural oak woodwork in the home was stunning. The house was slightly run down and needed quite a bit of work.

How Much Was the Mansion Worth?

This house is probably worth in the neighborhood of $750,000. That was a significant amount of money in 2004.

Did the Winner Receive Money to Pay the Taxes?

I can't tell you if the winner of the show was also given by the show producers actual cash to pay the taxes owed to the Federal Government for winning the house. I'm not an accountant, but I suspect the IRS would treat the winnings as they would money you might win at a casino or racetrack. There's no doubt the prize has tax consequences.

How Was the Winner Selected?

The winner was selected from the two finalists by the show's viewers. They had a real-time voting system in place.

What Was it Like to Be a Judge?

The experience was fun as I have never seen what it is like to be a part of a large television show. I have been on live national television before and on live large-market newscasts, but never was I surrounded by so many cameramen, sound technicians, field directors, producers, associate producers, grips, etc.! There were nearly 40 people behind the scenes to make the show happen.

What is The Reality of Reality TV?

Each episode of The Mansion is one-hour long. There are about 17 minutes of commercials so you actually only see 43 minutes of programming each week. At the minimum, there are 28 hours of tape that has to be boiled down to these 43 minutes. In some instances, there were over 100 hours of tape!

This is Mark, the host of the show. Mark and I are having some fun at the party after the taping was completed. Mark asked me for some tips to help him install the baseboard at his own home.

How Did the Judging Work?

Let's talk about just the judgment aspect of the show. Each time the other two judges, Tom and Cassandra, and I looked at a completed project with the contestant who was foreman, we inspected and talked with that contestant for usually an hour.

In the three episodes that have aired so far, the amount of time allocated to the three judges is about 2, perhaps 3 minutes. Vast amounts of what I and the other two judges said is not making it to the airwaves. I'm not upset, but I feel you should know I was constantly pointing out errors and deficiencies in the work. Only time will tell how the tape editors and show producers portray me, and so far it ain't talkin'!

The amount of time spent taping just the judgment part of each episode stretched anywhere from 4 hours to 6.5 hours. Yes! I am talking about that part of the show from where you see the host Mark blow the airhorn to the point where he was handing out checks after we three judges decided what we were to give each episode.

What Was it Like Watching the Finale Live?

It was very cool to be part of the taping of the final episode where the winner was revealed. The friends and family of the contestants were invited as well as Tom, Cassandra and myself - the three judges. All of us were assembled in a large heated tent that had a giant flat-screen TV so we could see in real-time what was happening at each segment.

Some things never change... Need I say more about the imbibing 3 Amigos? These three contestants were thick as thieves during the recording of the show.

As contestants were eliminated, they came to watch the rest of the taping in the tent with us. I must tell you it was very uncomfortable watching the show amidst the family and friends.

It was very tense as Mark was about to announce who did not make it to the next level. You could hear the gasps and groans escape from the family and friends as each of the contestants were eliminated. I could have skipped that part thank you very much.

The after-party was very fun. Those contestants who were eliminated didn't seem to mind too much. There was plenty of laughter and good times to be had by all. The liquid refreshments were flowing, and as you can see, it didn't take long for certain individuals to get comfortable!

In my October 7, 2008 Newsletter, there is a humorous article about Foundation Primer. No, it wasn't for the mansion. It was for ME!