Why I'm Not a Fan of "Extreme Makeover"
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
by Terry Mitchell
http://commenterry.blogs.com
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, hosted by TV personality Ty Pennington, is one of the most popular shows on American television right now. However, don't count me among its fans. I just disagree with its whole concept.
Each week on the show, some family that the show's producers deem to be deserving gets their home pretty much rebuilt for free by people working for the show. In essence, each of these families is handed a gift valued at up to $300,000 or more, depending on the location. This is much different from game shows, where people utilize their skills to win cash and prizes. Here, people are handed a large gift without having to do anything to get it.
The second problem I see is that the spectacle it creates is certain to elicit jealousy. As I mentioned above, there are likely to be other deserving people who get left out. How are they are going to feel when they see this kind of thing on TV?
While some might be truly happy for the recipients, others are no doubt going to feel bad because no one is helping them. If Pennington and company feel compelled to give some families a free home makeover, they should do it as a private act without broadcasting it to the world.
The third problem is that all the effort, time, and resources spent on such large projects would be better spent helping even more people with smaller projects and giveaways. Random acts of kindness are fine, but not on the scale of what they are doing.
Obviously it's done for TV ratings. A show about people handing out $20 bills to the homeless would likely not be a very big draw. Ratings or no ratings, though, I still think something like that would be a better use of the producers' time and money. Of course, the catch-22 would be that, without the ratings, there would be no show, and without the show, there would be nothing to hand out.
This Article has been viewed 1,021 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Hi Terry.I became disillusioned with the show early on for many of the reasons you cite. But also, because I believe they select the recipients not so much based on worthiness as on tear-jerk potential. Cynical of me, hunh?Good article, good points.DianneDianne, you're not cynical at all -- just an analytical and critical thinker! We need more people like you.
Hi Terry, great thoughts. There were a few shows I loved and that is when they built a duplex for two families and they funded a local headstart and put a bunch of computers and learning toys in the facility. They did this because the women they helped, wanted them to help others in her community.I think helping these families are great, but I agree, if they put a little less lavish into one home, they could do several homes. One of the teachers in our high school nominated our youth pastor and his wife for the show. They came out and looked at the place. Our youth pastor makes little money, was ripped off by the previous home owner by his concealing large amounts of dryrot etc... to the home. The amount of energy and selflessness this man and his wife gives to the schools and all the kids of the community was not enough to give them a spot on the show. I think Dianne is right, their need was great, but no big & extreme issues, so they were passed up despite all the great interviews given by others in the community and those who signed up to volunteer.Great article!Teresa, I'm glad you liked the article. You know, it's the folks like your youth pastor that I had mind when I wrote this article.
"All the effort, time, and resources spent on such large projects would be better spent helping even more people with smaller projects and giveaways."Ideally, how true. But in a country that idolizes its manufactured stars and even those who have to work to get there, not sure we'll see the day when television is more focused on doing right than doing what's right by ratings.Thanks for the thought provoking article, Terry.Jeff, thanks for commenting. Unfortunately, as you pointed out, even stuff done in the name of charity is often done with questionable motives.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.