As winter drags on with its snow and gray skies, it's a season for comfort food and comfort TV.

One of the most comforting shows around is HGTV's "House Hunters," the viewing equivalent of macaroni and cheese — pleasing, hearty, dependable.

Given the housing market slump, you might think that a program themed to buying and selling houses would be a bummer or, at least, feel out of touch. A concept like "House Stayers," where renters and homeowners sit tight with what they've got and hope for better days, sounds more appropriate.

But "House Hunters," which has been on the air since 2000, continues to be relevant and entertaining. It's an invitation, as HGTV senior vice president of programming Freddy James puts it, to tag along on a big life event where the stakes are high.

The format is simple: Prospective home buyers working with a real estate agent are sent out to look at three houses that are fairly close to their wish list and budget range. At the end of each episode, viewers find out which one they chose and, on a brief return visit to glimpse the decorating changes and renovations they've made.

"House Hunters" and the spinoff "House Hunters International," which launched in 2005, consistently have been among the top five rated programs on the network and are often HGTV's top one and two shows in the key demographic of adults 25 to 54, according to James.

"It's by far our most recognized and watched franchise," he says.

Typically, casting for the show starts with real estate agents, because they can suggest clients who are far enough along in the process to make for a good storyline. The locations hopscotch across the country (about 20 episodes have been filmed in Michigan), but the essentials never vary. Three houses are always shown, although more than that sometimes are filmed. The buyers always say what they like and don't like. There's always the same "ding-dong" doorbell sound effect.

So why does watching the same format over and over again continue to be fresh and amusing? Part of it is the inherent human fascination with peeking inside another person's home. "I hate to use that word, but it is voyeurism," says James. "You have a legitimate opportunity to see how other people live. ... If you go to an open house or you see one on TV, which is sort of what this show does, you get to play a little game with yourself and think about, 'I wonder ... what they do for a living, I wonder how many kids they have.' And this show allows you to do that."

And with "House Hunters International," there's the fun of finding out what other countries consider the norm in everything from room size — try telling an American that anything but a walk-in closet is spacious enough — to "the differences with the bathroom, whether or not they have a bidet, which is more common in some countries than others," says James.

There's also a certain similarity between "House Hunters" and a game show. Avid fans pride themselves on being able to guess whether the buyers will choose — to borrow from "Let's Make A Deal" — door no. 1, door no. 2 or door no. 3. "Like any real estate journey, it's hard to find every single thing you want in one home. So you're trying to get inside their heads and see if you can figure out what they're going to be willing to compromise on," says James.

The current housing market is reflected in some aspects of the show. Homes that used to sell for more than the asking price might now sell for less. "I think there've even been a couple of episodes where the homeowners — I don't know if these have aired yet or not — ended up not getting a house," says James.

But it's still all about buying the dream home — and avoiding the nightmares. If you're really invested in the show, you may take the horror-film approach to watching "House Hunters." That's when viewers see buyers walk into houses with potential renovation headaches and want to yell at them, "Get out of there! Run as fast as you can!"

James can understand that. "You're putting yourself in their shoes. The homeowner that you see on TV may say, 'We could live with this particular challenge.' And you're thinking ... 'You're not really going to be able to live with that, because I have lived with it and it's not as easy as you think.'"

Talking to your television is perfectly acceptable during "House Hunters" and "House Hunters International." So is appreciating your own abode a little more afterward. After seeing the prices in Paris and the beige-tastic decor in most American condos, there is no place like home.