Why I'm Not a Fan of "Extreme Makeover"
Terry L. Mitchell
May 20, 2009
"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 first problem that comes to my mind is that there are likely to be people who are just as deserving of such a gift, or even more so, who will never be lucky enough to be a beneficiary of that show. There is enough injustice is the world already. To me, this show seems nothing more than an excuse to randomly create even more unfairness.
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.
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 first problem that comes to my mind is that there are likely to be people who are just as deserving of such a gift, or even more so, who will never be lucky enough to be a beneficiary of that show. There is enough injustice is the world already. To me, this show seems nothing more than an excuse to randomly create even more unfairness.
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.
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