“Discovery+ is expanding its unscripted programming fare. Parent company Discovery today unveiled a slate of five new shows, produced by OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, ordered straight-to-series for the streaming service. They include Taking Back The House (working title) starring Robert Hartwell, from Property Brothers stars Drew and Jonathan Scott, co-produced by OWN and corporate cousin HGTV in its first-ever partnership.
Taking Back the House will chronicle Broadway Collective founder Hartwell’s room-by-room renovation of an 1820 colonial house he recently purchased. Hartwell will executive produce alongside the Scott brothers. Taking Back the House (wt) will premiere exclusively on discovery+ in 2022…
Here are the details of the new series:
Taking Back The House (working title)
Last year on Juneteenth, a day celebrating the emancipation of African-American slaves in America, Robert Hartwell made headlines when he purchased a historic property in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. This is a house with a complicated history, and Robert’s purchase set the Internet ablaze. When Robert, the founder of The Broadway Collective, Broadway’s #1 training academy, and a working actor who has performed on Broadway in five musicals from “Hello, Dolly!” with Bette Midler to “Motown the Musical, first saw the 200-year-old colonial house in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, he knew he had found home. It was not easy for the openly gay Black man to complete the cash offer only purchase but Hartwell just knew this was meant to be his house, so he persevered. Now, Hartwell will renovate the home room by room. The renovation of this house will unlock stories of his own history and lead him down a path of discovery about himself, his culture and the Black creatives who will inspire the ensuing designs. “I wish I could’ve told my ancestors when they were breaking their backs in 1820 to build this house that 200 years later a free gay Black man was going to own it and fill it with love and say their name,” Hartwell said when the purchase was complete. This finished home will be a celebration of Black excellence, the people and culture that built him. The series is produced by Scott Brothers Entertainment. Hartwell, Jonathan Scott and Drew Scott are the executive producers.”
See the rest of the news on Deadline.