Don't get me wrong, I think its a great, noble cause and to see the people who really deserve recognition for their benevolance get it is always nice to see. However, I can't push to the back of my mind the over-rehearsed and over emphasised stuff that is on it.

Should I go to confession?

I once had to sit for two days with the other half watching episode after episode of this.


Ill join you in confession.

I was just watching Predator, perfectly happy listening to Ah-nuld commanding to kill whatever breathes and I turned the laptop on. No sooner then my finger touched the power on button my other half switched it on.

If we was watching Rocky and she did such a thing, you wouldn't be reading about it from my whining posts, but on the front page of the following days Star.

What I find amusing about Extreme Makeover: Shouting Edition is that they take a family, struggling on welfare, scaping their means in a ramshackle small home.....and build them a mansion which will cost a fortune in utilities and upkeep! Genius idea! You know that once the cameras go away the family contact the nearest estate agent and make a small fortune before moving back to a smaller, easier to afford property (either that or slowly the luxury mansion turns into a huge wreck of a building).

I like when they build an 8 bedroom mansion on a street where everyone else lives in shanty-town huts, wouldn't it be better to spread the money out over the whole neighbourhood ?

The shameless advertising the materials suppliers do it shocking, I've never seen so many close-ups of drywall packaging or furniture vans.

okay.. this is how the show works

they get free materials donated in lieu of paying for advertising time (sears donates most of the kitchen goods like dishwasher, stove and fridge with their Kenmore line)

the entire house is built by volunteers

donations are put in place to help with the financial burdens (increase in property tax and in energy bills) placed on very low income families who can not afford the upgrade. they also cover the personal gains tax that the home owners get by the "prize" theyve won. ABC and the community help with these bills through cash donations - as when a family signs on to do a show they are not allowed to sell or remove certain items from the house to help pay their bills (elton johns signed piano, for example) as in the first two seasons, families were doing this.

usually by the time the show is done, most of the neighbors front yards have been destroyed thanks to storing and building items for the house. what you dont see is ABC sends in landscapers to fix up all the properties to help them fit in with the new house in the neighborhood once they have finished taping.

btw what you guys see here is the edited down version of the show. what airs in the states actually has LESS commercial breaks (thanks to the product placement) and shows you more detail of the homes. i dont mind the product placement if its there to help others

I hate how they routinely sit the target in front of the camera and force them to cry, even if it means getting the crew to cry first.
They once sorted this kid who had donated a kidney to someone and they rather tackily painted small red kidneys all the way round the truck they gave him.

thank god - i thought i was dead inside!

Wifey watches the bugger all the time,yea its great what they do for the families but its soooooooooo American and the who presents it is a total tit