{"id":61199,"date":"2025-07-13T03:11:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T03:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/61199\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T03:11:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T03:11:19","slug":"a-dallas-family-lived-like-1880s-homesteaders-for-chip-and-joanna-gaines-new-tv-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/61199\/","title":{"rendered":"A Dallas family lived like 1880s homesteaders for Chip and Joanna Gaines\u2019 new TV show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Waco\u2019s \u201cfixer-uppers\u201d Chip and Joanna Gaines<\/a> are out with a new series \u2014 one that winds back the clock, dropping three families into the world of 1880s homesteaders. <\/p>\n

The participants, who included Dallas-based dads Joe Riggs and Jason Hanna, relinquished their technology for the eight-week social experiment in the Canadian Rockies. <\/p>\n

In 1862, circa the era of Manifest Destiny \u2014 the belief in a divine push to migrate west \u2014 the Homestead Act was passed. In exchange for a small fee, the government doled out acres of land to adult citizens, who would legally own the parcel after five years of continuous residence<\/a>. <\/p>\n

During the eight-episode series Back to the Frontier, a joint venture between the Gaineses\u2019 Magnolia Network and Max, Riggs and Hanna lived in a 600-square-foot cabin with their 10-year-old twin sons, Ethan and Lucas. <\/p>\n

News Roundups<\/p>\n

Catch up on the day’s news you need to know.<\/p>\n

There were hard times, Hanna said in a Zoom call ahead of the show\u2019s July 10 premiere. <\/p>\n

At night, they could hear mice scuttling on the cabin\u2019s hardwood floors. \u201cEvery drop of water we needed, we had to go to the well. We had to carry it in,\u201d Hanna said. <\/p>\n

The frontier life posed a stark contrast to their normal life, where technology loomed large in their household. <\/p>\n

The couple was shown on-screen enlisting Amazon\u2019s smart speaker Alexa to raise their bedroom curtains in the morning. Their kids use electric toothbrushes. A swirling gadget vacuums their carpet. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur house is pretty well automated,\u201d Hanna said. Part of the allure to him about the series was disconnecting from technology. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so caught up in modern day life that sometimes, even at a dinner table, we get a ping and it takes our focus away from our kids.\u201d <\/p>\n

Both Riggs and Hanna have worked corporate jobs. <\/p>\n

During the evenings on the frontier, there was nothing to do, Riggs said. <\/p>\n

They passed time playing dominoes and card games. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you remove those devices, they\u2019re focusing on the here and now,\u201d Riggs said of their children. <\/p>\n

The boys learned to whittle sticks and build forts. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey were using their imagination to create this lifestyle,\u201d Hanna said. <\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>\u2018Landman\u2019 returns to film at this small town in North Texas, an hour outside Fort Worth<\/a><\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the town of Jacksboro was featured again in Taylor Sheridan\u2019s Paramount+ show about the West Texas oil industry.<\/p>\n

\"'King<\/a>\u2018King of the Hill\u2019 drops Season 14 trailer ahead of revival<\/a><\/p>\n

The trailer replicates some of the tensions between tradition and modernity that \u201cKing of the Hill\u201d\u2019s original run explored with Hank, a propane salesman in the town of Arlen.<\/p>\n

In a news release, the Gaineses said the series \u201ctaps into something we\u2019ve always believed \u2014 that stepping away from the noise of everyday life can bring you closer to what matters most.” <\/p>\n

Early in the season, each family designated a head of household \u2014 a role reserved for men. <\/p>\n

\u201cGender roles were a very strong ingrained thing in the 1880s,\u201d Riggs said. \u201cOne of our strengths as a two-dad family is that we both have to wear all hats.\u201d\u2019 <\/p>\n

But to replicate frontier life, they were pushed toward the gender archetypes, with Hanna overseeing the domestic sphere and Riggs working in the field. <\/p>\n

Riggs was initially hesitant to uproot their lives for a summer, but he said being on the show was an \u201copportunity to put ourselves out there and help normalize families like ours.\u201d <\/p>\n

Their Dallas life now has relics of time on the homestead. The couple\u2019s son Ethan has developed an affinity for cooking (mostly mushrooms and pies). They have regular game nights \u2014 \u201cone on one bonding time,\u201d Hanna called it. <\/p>\n

When the show ended, the family was placed in a hotel room. Riggs saw dirt come off from his fingers onto the white bathroom sink. A mirror reflected his unshaven face. <\/p>\n

Riggs would later reminisce on the scenic vista of the mountains, while Hanna said he misses rummaging through the garden with his sons to scrounge up meals.<\/p>\n

One thing Hanna doesn\u2019t miss though? The lack of running water or electricity. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>5 things \u2018America\u2019s Sweethearts\u2019 season 2 glossed over<\/a><\/p>\n

Netflix\u2019s second season of the series following the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders teased some conflicts and tensions without fully addressing them.<\/p>\n

\"Host<\/a>\u2018Love Island USA\u2019 watch parties are popping up across Dallas-Fort Worth <\/a><\/p>\n

Here are five places fans can see the drama unfold together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Waco\u2019s \u201cfixer-uppers\u201d Chip and Joanna Gaines are out with a new series \u2014 one that winds back the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":61200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,6337,358,173,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-61199","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-reality-tv","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-tv","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114843738701842410","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}