Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

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Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Image:ExMakeLogo large.gif </small>
Genre	Reality television series
Running time	43 minutes per episode 17 minutes of commercial
Starring	Ty Pennington Paul DiMeo Paige Hemmis Tracy Hutson Daniel Kucan Tanya McQueen Michael Moloney Constance Ramos Ed Sanders Preston Sharp (late in first season) Eduardo Xol John Littlefield
Country of origin	United States
Original channel	ABC
Original run	December 3, 2003 (television special); February 15, 2004 (regular series)–present
No. of episodes	69 (to date, including After the Storm episodes)

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, in which a family's house, including all rooms, exterior and landscaping, is made over by a team of builders and designers in seven days while the family goes off on vacation. It is a spinoff of Extreme Makeover. The series is a production of Endemol USA (the people behind Big Brother, Fear Factor, Deal or No Deal, and other reality shows) in association with Disney/Buena Vista's Greengrass Productions.

The show is one of ABC's top-rated series and has become more popular than the original Extreme Makeover.

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.

The band that sings the theme song on the show's opening credits is Of a Revolution (OAR).

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? During the 2005-2006 season they went to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina.

1 Format
2 Cast
3 Criticism
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[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 7PM Eastern Time (one hour ahead of its normal 8PM 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 bullhorn) by shouting "Good Morning {family's name}!" 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). 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.

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. 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 "bus driver, move that bus!" (or "those buses"), 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 or the parent's master bedroom, the room receives Ty's special attention. Some episodes feature special gifts given to the family by outside parties.

[edit] Cast

Ty Pennington being interviewed during the episode with the Muppets

Ty Pennington (host/design team leader/carpentry)
Paul DiMeo (carpentry)
Paige Hemmis (carpentry)
Tracy Hutson (shopping/style)
Daniel Kucan (interior design)
Tanya McQueen (interior design)
Michael Moloney (interior design)
Constance Ramos (building/planning)
Ed Sanders (carpentry)
Preston Sharp (exteriors/big ideas)
Eduardo Xol (landscaping)
John Littlefield (carpentry, debuts in 10/15/06 episode)

[edit] Criticism

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.<ref>http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/2005/03/exhibit.html</ref> Many have also complained that the show has put these big beautiful brand new homes in the middle of virtually blighted neighborhoods, while others have complained that the new homes have caused property taxes in the neighborhoods they are built in to skyrocket (partially because some neighborhoods calculate property taxes based on the average value of all homes there and not on an individual basis).^{[citation needed]}