Happy birthday to Ty Pennington (left), host of Extreme MakeoverHome Edition, a popular show that (from what I can gather) offers pimped-outmansions to folks who’ve survived unspeakable crises. It’s also a show thatmakes me cringe and hiss at the television whenever I stumble across its lastfour or five minutes, right before Desperate Housewives airs. Maybe it’s allthe screaming (I hate when crowds scream on Today and Good Morning America, forwhat it’s worth). Maybe it’s all the tears and the swelling music andPennington’s gravelly "Goooood morrrrrning Plattsburghs!" (Hsssss!)Maybe it’s that I can’t shake the feeling that these families are, no matterwhat they gain from the show, having their personal tragedies exploited forratings points and ad dollars.
Whatever the reason, I truly wish ExtremeMakeover Home Edition didn’t make me feel so ornery, that I could react to itwith the same unflinching indifference I feel for The Unit, and Deal or NoDeal, and all the other shows that I’ll never, ever watch. But my extremeloathing of Extreme Makeover, while irrational, is also quite real, and everyonce in a while, it makes me feel like a bad person.
Slezak: *#&%@* this @*#&%@ piece-of-crap program!
Conscience: What is WRONG with you? Be nice to the quadriplegic lady and hercancer-surviving triplets!
Slezak: [Grumble.]
Conscience: Seriously, dude, you need to put down theremote and go do some volunteer work.
Slezak: Okay, as soon as I clear up some space on my DVR.
Conscience: [Sighs deeply.]
Slezak: What? It’s about to delete Women’s Murder Club!
Similarly, I feel cranky about Ellen DeGeneres and herpublic battle with a non-profit dog rescue called Mutts and Moms. For days,I’ve been purposely avoiding news stories about "Iggygate," as it’sbeing called, but I saw DeGeneres’ original, tearful rant on the topic, and allI could think was, "Why in the name of all that’s holy are you talkingabout this on air? Why do I feel like you’re pushing those tears? And why, ifthis dog [Iggy, pictured at right] is so special to you, do you keep referring to him as ‘it’?"(Mind you, I’m usually a huge DeGeneres fan; I even watched that sitcom of hers with Cloris Leachman!)
So here’s my question: Do I have some genetic defectthat’s causing me to rail against televised displays of charity? (I shouldmention that I fervently avoid telethons and benefit concerts, too.) Or maybe Idon’t like aggressive Kleenex moments? Or, more likely, I’m just looking forsomebody to tell me I’m not alone about all this.
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I assume that when any celebrity does anything, it’s loaded with PR and focus groups behind it. Which means we would be very disappointed with most celebrities if we saw how they really lived.
You are not alone at all, Michael!
I completely understand. I used to watch EMHE but got really tired of basically the same show each week. And Ty’s voice gets on my nerves. Also, I haven’t watched or read anything about Ellen and the dog. As usual it’s been blown out of proportion.
You’re not wrong…there are a zillion deserving folks out there that need housing, want dogs, want food and clothing. I cannot for the life of me figure out how this got started…These shows – also Vern Yips Deserving Design on HGTV seem so contrived – heck, everyone needs help and is deserving of something in one way or another – it is magical thinking in action in the shows – like just “knowing” you will wind the Powerball – week after week after week.
TV is not the savior for deserving and downtrodden folks – if we are living vicariously – then we all need to take a good look at what is going on in our lives.
BTW – you and Doc Jensen are just the best….oh, and Dalton Ross too.
I’ve been avoiding watching Ellen’s meltdown too until now. It seems sincere enough, but what she’s really upset about is those kids. She doesn’t really give a hoot about the dog. Pay the vet to let “it” sleep in the vet’s bed?? Why not her own bed if she cares so much? Yeah, I’m a bad person too, and I hate my dog.
Slezak, I’m thinking you like your charity “pure” – no corporate-sponsored charity. But the real reason I’m writing it to pitch a show idea: you and your conscience could be the new “Herman’s Head.” You crack me up, man. Don’t go changin’.
I’ll be watching EMHE for the first time this weekend only because for some reason, Hanson’s on Sunday’s ep. I’ve been told to expect to cry a lot and to realize that my life really isn’t so bad after all once I see the people on the show… but I gotta wonder, how quality is the workmanship if they’re doing a teardown and rebuild in, what is it, a week?!
I’m just amused that Iggy and Ty Pennington have the same haircut.
I agree with the previous Lori that Ellen’s concern is about the kids who fell in love with that dog. Obviously the dog didn’t work for Ellen & Portia and they likely made a good call in finding it a better home where it would be dearly loved and appreciated. Pets should be dearly loved and appreciated, not merely tolerated. I don’t get why the Moms & Mutts or whatever the h*ll the name of the pet adoption group she got the dog from had to go all Nazi about taking this dog away. One would think they have plenty of dogs to find homes for. Sounds to me like they got all up in arms because they don’t place dogs in family with younger children.
Whenever I happen across Ty’s screaming show, and I see the very elaborate bedrooms that have been created for the children, I always wonder how many years that room decor will last before these people, who likely can’t afford it, will have to redecorate. I mean really, a ladybug bed and bugs painted all over the walls? Do people live like that?
Slezak, you’re not alone. For sometime now, I haven’t been able to watch Extreme Makeover for more than a few seconds. Maybe it’s because of all the backslapping and the self-congratulatory tone the show takes. Or maybe it’s because in the back of my mind I fear (which may be unfounded) that the family who’s receiving the mega-improved-mansion will be slapped with a property tax hike so high that it will force them to move (you know those county appraisers are taking notes during the show). But it’s probably Ty’s inability to modulate the volume of his voice (just like Will Ferrel’s character in SNL) that drives me up the wall the most.
And for Ellen. Seriously, how pampered is her life if she’s crying that much over a dog adoption. What about our soilders overseas? What about the children dying of horrendous diseases worldwide? Don’t they deserve at least a drop of tear? I don’t remember her crying a river while hosting “Idol Gives Back”.
I am of two minds on the Home Makeover thing. On the one hand, like you say, the people who get the houses really are needy, and if a major entertainment conglomerate is going to rake in millions anyway, then why shouldn’t the double-amputee-single-mom-with-triplets get a cut?
On the other hand, they lard the show with so many swelling strings, heartwarming montages and carefully scripted moments of “healing” that it’s hard (and possibly irrelevant) to tell where the production ends and the people begin. And I hate being jerked around emotionally, by reality shows or country songs or financial planning company ads.
Also, since when is it the ultimate goal of every American life to live in a giant, hideous McMansion?
I’m giving Ellen a pass, because I just loved “Finding Nemo” that much and because I feel like if one more word gets written on this subject the world will implode. Or something.
I know the feeling that EMHE is in some way exploiting the people on the show. But I just cry like a baby every time anyway. Seeing how happy their projects make people and seeing how much of a positive difference they make in the family’s (and sometimes community’s) life, I can’t not watch. Ty is certainly the most annoying one on the show but Paulie rocks.
When I was 9, I had to give my beloved cocker spaniel, who I had for 4 years, away because he bit a cousin. (She was unarmed, no broken skin). I was able to move on, and find it hard t believe the 12 year old girl is so shaken up over the loss of a dog she had for 2 weeks. I think Ellen planned it out. Why else cry on a TAPED show? And I usually love her. Also, I was rejected by an adoption agency the chance to adopt a kitten b/c I said I would let it outside. Some agencies have weird policies. That’s life.
I feel the same way that you do about this whole Iggygate. I honestly feel that people wouldn’t have been this upset about the whole wronged adoption if it was an actual person. It all needs to go away. Quickly. Ellen can give the kids one of her eight Emmys or buy them a new dog.
I don’t really like Extreme either. It’s heart’s in the right place, but a rockin’ new playroom isn’t going to bring back the cancer-surviving triplets’ mother. I feel more strongly about shows about already wealthy families living their “fabulous lives” and getting even richer. *hisses*
I can’t stand EMHE. The worst is when they get some country singer up there with a graphic of a huge American flag waving behind him/her while they give a special performance. This usually causes me to throw things if I happen to flip by it. In the beginning I could tolerate it…you know, when it was normal people who were just down on their luck. Now all they do is find the most extreme cases they can find in order to garner the biggest emotional response. It’s awful.