Is Chip and Joanna Gaines’ New Show a Rip-Off of This Old Reality Series?

Three families are about to find out if they can handle life in a real-life Little House on the Prairie. 

Back to the Frontier is a new reality show from producers Chip and Joanna Gaines. The series, which debuts July 10 on HBO Max and Magnolia Network, challenges a diverse trio of American families to reimagine their lives as 1880s homesteaders, where they’re forced to forgo the comforts of the present day for a more analog life on the frontier. 

Families are ‘stepping away from the noise of everyday life’ in Chip and Joanna Gaines’ new show

The cast members’ Back to the Frontier journey begins with giving up a host of modern conveniences. That includes everything from lip gloss to iPhones to running water, as seen in the teaser for the show. 

“I’m at a loss for words that I have to give up all of this to go back to the frontier,” one cast member says in the trailer as she removes her makeup. 

By shedding modern-day luxuries, the families hope to strengthen their connections and learn valuable lessons. But they may not be prepared for the day-to-day challenges of homesteading, including struggling to get enough food to eat and dealing with close personal quarters. 

“There’s only two beds. I’m not sharing a bed,” one of the family’s daughters declares.

Despite the difficulties, Chip and Joanna are teasing heartwarming moments for all three families. 

“This series taps into something we’ve always believed – that stepping away from the noise of everyday life can bring you closer to what matters most,” they said in a statement. “It is proof that no matter where you find yourself, the most important part of home is the people you share it with.”

Is ‘Back to the Frontier’ a copy of ‘Frontier House’?

People will have to tune in to see what happens during the Fixer Upper couple’s social experiment. But it might not play out as the participants expect, if the results of a similar series are any guide. 

Back to the Frontier’s premise is nearly identical to a show that aired more than 20 years ago on PBS. The Emmy-nominated Frontier House followed three families as they tried homesteading in Montana. It filmed from May to October 2001 and aired the following spring. 

Like the cast of Back to the Frontier, some of the Frontier House families had romantic ideas of life in the Old West. But the reality of life on the frontier was far less cozy and comforting, they discovered. Adrienne Clune thought she’d have time to sew and bond with her husband and kids. What she got instead was days of drudgery. 

“It was an endless work day, from sunup to sundown,” Clune told Family Tree magazine. “For women, particularly mothers, [frontier life] was brutally tough, full of hardship. There was so little time to do the things I’d like to do.”

Aside from the day-to-day struggle to get by, Frontier House was rife with interpersonal drama. In a 2024 retrospective, The New York Times called the show “diabolically entertaining” due in part to the constantly simmering tensions between cast members, as well as efforts of some participants to outwit production. The Clune family smuggled in contraband goods like shampoo and traded with people outside the show. The Glenns, in contrast, were committed to sticking to the rules of the experiment, and they grew increasingly aggravated with the Clunes. At one point, production intervened to let cast members know about the events of September 11. After filming ended, one couple apparently separated. 

Will Back to the Frontier be as chaotic and raw as Frontier House? Based on the syrupy-sweet trailer, with its uplifting music and Pinterest-y aesthetic, probably not. The emphasis seems to be on positive vibes and celebrating cooperation, not conflict. 

“This is what the frontier is all about,” one excited cast member says. 

“One out of three families fail when they’re on the homestead,” another cast member tells the group. “So we need to work together.” 

Back to the Frontier premieres July 10 on Magnolia Network and HBO Max.

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