Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

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Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Format Reality television series
Starring Ty Pennington
Paul DiMeo
Paige Hemmis
Tracy Hutson
Daniel Kucan
Tanya McQueen
Michael Moloney
Constance Ramos
Ed Sanders
Preston Sharp
Eduardo Xol
John Littlefield
Rib Hillis
Didiayer Snyder
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of episodes 121 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s) Endemol
Running time 43 minutes per episode 17 minutes of commercial
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
Original run December 3, 2003 (television special)
February 15, 2004 (regular series) – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is an Emmy Award-winning ABC reality television series that began broadcasting on November 3, 2003 as a special and as a regular television series since February 15, 2004 (the show also broadcasts on People + Arts in Portugal, Spain, Latin America) and on DMAX in Germany, in which a family's house, including all rooms, exterior and landscaping, is made over by a team of builders and designers in 7 days while the family goes off on vacation. It is a spinoff of Extreme Makeover. The series is an Endemol USA Productions presentation (the people behind Big Brother, Fear Factor, Deal or No Deal, and other reality shows) in association with Disney/Buena Vista's Greengrass Television.

The show is one of ABC's top-rated series and has become more popular than the original Extreme Makeover, which struggled to air through its last two seasons and quietly ended with its episodes burned off wholesale in July 2007. The fifth season of the show premiered on September 30, 2007. [1] Series reruns began airing on TV Land on August 7, 2007, making it the youngest non-original show to air on the network.

It was announced on February 28, 2008 that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was renewed through the 2008-2009 season.[2]

The show is hosted by Ty Pennington, formerly a carpenter on the show Trading Spaces. It is sponsored by Sears (and their properties, Craftsman and Kenmore), for which Pennington serves as a spokesman and which are prominently featured in the episodes. The series is devoted to rebuilding families' homes when the family is in need of new hope. Some scenes were staged, including the Muppets as guest-stars. During the 2005–2006 season they went to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina.

The show also had a series of specials that later became a regular series during the 2004–2005 television season entitled Extreme Makeover Home Edition: How’d They Do That? It was a short-lived spin off of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that featured extra behind-the-scenes footage of what had happened in that week's episode.

International versions have also aired, in Greece, Scandinavia, and later this year, Mexico. In the UK (shown on UKTV Style & Five), the network removes a number of segments that would contravene product placement laws including shots of store signs and product manufacturers, if it is unable to edit these out - they are blurred.[citation needed] The audio feed is also edited to bleep, fade or remove unnecessary mentions of manufacturers or suppliers while leaving references to the house builder, main furniture supplier and kitchen supplier (if different).[citation needed] EndemolUK's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition UK is also in pre-production.[citation needed] The Spanish version of the show "Esta Casa era una ruina" (This House was in ruins) premiered on Monday, November 5, 2007 on Antena3TV during Primetime. The program premiere was watched by 3,664,000 viewers which translates to a healthy 19.9% share of the audience.[citation needed] The Spanish edition will consist of a Series of specials rather than a weekly show. Initially four specials have been filmed, and these will be screened on a monthly basis in Primetime, with each program having a duration of 70 minutes (105 minutes with ad time).[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Format

The majority of episodes are one hour; however, in some instances (mainly if complications are involved) the episode will be a two-parter and will start at 7 PM Eastern Time (one hour ahead of its normal 8 PM Eastern Time slot).

Most shows in the first three seasons begin with a shot of Ty in the team's bus saying "I'm Ty Pennington, and the renovation starts right now!" The exception is those episodes which feature a guest host in his place. In the fourth season, the show set a goal of visiting all fifty of the United States. In this season, the opening shot is of Ty in a location iconic of the state the episode was in, and a declaration of what state the episode is in is added to the tagline. Then, the chosen family is briefly profiled; their nomination video is shown to the team (and to the television audience). Ty then brings the team together in a huddle and leads them in a chant of "Let's DO IT!" Next, Ty and the design team visit the family's home and proceed to give the family a "wake-up call" (courtesy of Ty's infamous bullhorn) by shouting "Good Morning [family's name] family!" then followed by saying the first name of each household member. The team will then go throughout the house, finding out about the family's interests as design inspiration.

The family will then be sent off on a one-week vacation (where applicable, airfare is provided by Southwest Airlines, whose involvement is noted at the end of the show) while the house is renovated or demolished, depending on its condition and the family's needs. (One episode in season three did not include a vacation because the family's daughter was in isolation at a local hospital).[3] As the family is taking vacation, they would receive video messages via computer laptop from Pennington's camera. (The videos displayed on the laptop is superimposed on broadcasts because it avoids the reflection on the screen or securing rights with computer programs)

Beginning with Season 3, the demolitions have become quite creative — the team has used falling trees, tanks, and even monster trucks to accomplish the task where needed. Also for the first time in 2007, they used dynamite to blow up one family's old house.

A local home builder (sometimes two builders) and community volunteers begin basic work (electrical, plumbing, roofing, and if the house is demolished framing a new one) while the design team begins designing the creative aspects of the house. Once the basic work is completed, the design team then will add the finishing touches. Ty selects a portion of the house to be his "Secret Room" (except in the case when the secret project takes place in the backyard), which no one is allowed to view prior to final reveal (with one exception in Season 4, which involved a commercial kitchen; the health inspector had to approve the kitchen and issue the permit before it could be used). Shows often feature design team members making a trip to a local Sears store as well as special guest appearances.

At the end of the week, the family returns to their home, to see cheering crowds and the view of their home blocked by a bus (for larger projects, two buses block the home). When Ty and the family give the order, originally "Bus driver, hit it!" and later "Bus driver, move that bus!!" (or "those buses!!"),(Note:In some early episodes, Ty and the family would walk around the bus to reveal the new house) the family sees the end result of the team's efforts. Ty's "secret room" is usually the last item featured on the show. Often a child's bedroom (usually to a special-needs patient), the parent's master bedroom, or a business, the room receives Ty's special attention. Some episodes feature special gifts given to the family by outside parties.

Sometimes very few episodes with guests such as the Muppets (who are owned by Disney) would have their own scenes that are scripted and provided as the comic relief. Scenes involving the Muppets would be filmed in a different style to avoid exposing the puppeteers.

[edit] Cast

Cast Role
Ty Pennington Host/Design Team Leader/Carpentry
Paul DiMeo Carpentry
Paige Hemmis Carpentry
Tracy Hutson Shopping/Style
Tanya McQueen Interior Design
Michael Moloney Interior Design/Nuts 'n Bolts
Ed Sanders Carpentry
Preston Sharp Exteriors/Big Ideas (currently MIA)
Eduardo Xol Landscaping
John Littlefield Carpentry
Constance Ramos Architect (left show during season 3, now hosts Color Correction on HGTV)
Rib Hillis Carpentry
Didiayer Snyder Design
Dawson Connor Design (left show after season 2)
Alle Ghadban Design (left show after season 2)

[edit] U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC.

Season Season premiere Season finale TV season Ranking Viewers
(in millions)
1
 December 3, 2003 July 18, 2004 2003–2004 #41 10.63
2
 September 26, 2004 May 22, 2005 2004–2005 #15 15.8
3
 August 14, 2005 May 16, 2006 2005–2006 #19 14.7
4
 September 17, 2006 May 20, 2007 2006–2007 #30 13.15
5
 September 30, 2007 May 18, 2008 2007–2008 #22 12.89

[edit] Spin-off

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: How'd They Do That? was a short-lived spinoff that featured extra behind-the-scenes footage of what had happened in that week's episode.

[edit] Criticism

 It has been suggested that some of the information in this article's Criticism or Controversy section(s) be merged into other sections to achieve a more neutral presentation. (Discuss)

The show has been criticized for glorifying excessive suburban lifestyles, such as in a Mother Jones article that questioned giving a 6-bedroom, 7-bath, 7-television house to a family of 4 in Kingston, WA.[4]

In an e-mail sent March 10, 2006, from an ABC employee to network affiliates, the program's casting agent details the exact kind of tragedies and rare illnesses being sought.[5]

Five children filed a lawsuit against ABC after they were evicted by a family that had taken them in before the show came to renovate the family's house. The five kids "say that the producers took advantage of the family’s hard-luck story and promised them new cars and other prizes to persuade them to participate in the program," according to the LA Times.[6] On July 17, 2007, Judge Paul Gutman ruled against the siblings stating that the plaintiffs failed to prove their case.[citation needed]

Questions arose when Theresa "Momi" Akana was picked for the Extreme Makeover program for Hawaii. The Honolulu Advertiser investigated their tax records and found out that both she and her husband made over $100,000 each in salary. Denise Cramsey, the executive producer of the show, responded with "I think Momi certainly fits the bill." She defended the pick, stating that they look beyond financial situation, and look into other factors, including family plight and contributions to the community.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ E! News - Ty Pennington Ties Up DUI Charge
  2. ^ Breaking News - ABC ANNOUNCES EARLY PICK-UPS OF ALTERNATIVE SERIES FOR 2008-2009 SEASON | TheFutonCritic.com
  3. ^ Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: The Official Companion Book
  4. ^ This New House. Mother Jones (March 2005). Retrieved on 2007-06-04. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition recently gave a 6-bedroom, 7-bath, 7-television house to a family of 4.”
  5. ^ ABC's "Extreme" Exploitation. The Smoking Gun (March 27, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-06-04. “Makeover show loves sick kids, cancer patients, hate crime victims”
  6. ^ Dehnart, Andy (August 11, 2005). Orphans sue ABC, family over Extreme Makeover: Home Edition episode. Reality Blurred.
  7. ^ Rick Daysog (July 2, 2007). 'Makeover' home recipient earns $100K. Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program

American High (2001) · The Osbournes (2002) · Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (2004) · Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2005) · Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2006) · Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (2007)