Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Overview

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition premiered as a thirteen-part special on Wednesday, December 3, 2003, and had its official series premiere on Sunday, February 15, 2004. It was among ABC's top-rated series and has become far more popular than the original Extreme Makeover, which struggled in the ratings through its last two seasons and quietly ended with its episodes burned off wholesale in July 2007. The show ranked 41st in its first season, averaging 10.6 million viewers per episode, with the pilot episode bringing in 12 million viewers. However its ratings soared thereafter with the second season entering the top 20, finishing 15th for the year, averaging 15.8 million viewers per episode. The next four seasons each ranked at least in the top 30, with seasons two and three ranking in the top 20, and seasons four and five ranking in the top 25. The sixth season, however, fell out of the top 35, and ranked 38th, averaging 10.3 million viewers per episode. The seventh season ranked 39th, averaging 9.1 million viewers. By season eight, the show barely ranked in the top 50 with just over 8.5 million viewers per episode on average. The last season ranked below the top 100 (finishing at #101) and averaged only 5.8 million viewers per episode.

Series reruns began airing on TV Land in August 2007, making it the youngest non-original show to air on the network.

The show is hosted by Ty Pennington, formerly a carpenter on the show Trading Spaces. The series is devoted to rebuilding families' homes when the family is in need of new hope.

During the 2005–06 season, the show went to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina and helped communities to rebuild themselves with help from other organizations.

The show also had a series of specials that later became a regular series during the 2004–05 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. An occasional special would feature The Muppets, property of ABC, engaging in comical scenes with the design team. However, their scenes were usually filmed after the renovation.

Production

Two episodes in two different cities are shot at the same time (a few days apart), using two different production crews. There are also two groups of designers. Ty Pennington flies back and forth between the cities to do the "door knock", the braveheart march, and the "reveal", as well as to finish up work on his projects, which he mentions and gives walk-throughs in his magazine. The amount of work that Ty and the design team put into the house itself and the projects they take on depend mostly on the amount of filming needed to be done. In some circumstances, such as smaller makeovers or makeovers scheduled to be two-hour episodes, the lead designers lay out a general idea for their projects, and the show's backup designers take over. Generally, the lead designers are notified in advance of the makeover recipients, to enable them to start their plans ahead of time. At several makeovers, they have been criticized for never doing any work at all, and just being there to put on a show.

Format

ABC received thousands of applications from families in need, and the team said that it was extremely hard to filter through the stories and choose only one of them. The families they looked for must have met two criteria: first, they must have been truly deserving and in need of the makeover, and second, they must have been the kind of people who gave something of themselves back to their community. The main theme of the show was advocacy, as each family that was selected helped to address a wide range of issues in American society. The show had helped families who had been victimized by a form of loss or tragic event, experienced a certain hardship and most of all, advocated on ways to treat, face and prevent such losses. The show helped families of veterans, single parents, and families with children who had illnesses ranging from childhood cancers to HIV/AIDS, as well as children with mental illnesses and disabilities such as autism. The show helped families victimized by natural disasters such as tornadoes and hurricanes, as well as families who had dealt with house fires and mold contamination. Other instances included families who had either lost loved ones or had loved ones injured in car accidents (including alcohol-related incidents), domestic violence, gang-related crimes and drug abuse. Every episode made a family stand as an advocate of awareness of such problems.

The majority of episodes were one hour; however, in some instances (mainly if complications were involved, or if the makeover involved more than just the family home) the episode was aired as a two-parter and started at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (one hour ahead of its normal 8 p.m. Eastern Time slot). In the UK and some countries, some of the two‑hour episodes aired as one single program instead of as two separate parts.

The first season of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition took place mostly in Southern California, particularly Greater Los Angeles. Season two extended the renovation outside California and beyond, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Most shows in the first three seasons began with a shot of Pennington in the team's bus saying, "I'm Ty Pennington, and the renovation starts right now!" The exceptions were those episodes which featured a guest host in his place.

In the fourth and fifth seasons, the opening shot was of Pennington in a location iconic of the state the episode was in, and a declaration of what state the episode was in was added to the tagline. Then, the chosen family was briefly profiled; their nomination video was shown to the team (and to the television audience).

Reaction and criticism

Despite the show's positive message, EM:HE has been scrutinized for several issues, including the show's ethics, its authenticity, and leaving some families with an increase in mortgage payments and property taxes due to higher assessments and worsening their circumstances.

Ethically speaking, the show has often been criticized by some viewers and the media for unnecessary contributions and glorifying excessive McMansion-like construction and lifestyles, such as in a Mother Jones article that questioned giving a six-bedroom, seven-bath, seven-television house to a family of four in Kingston, Washington.

Authentically speaking, one such claim was frequently made against the show's lead designers, particularly Ty Pennington. At several makeovers, they have been criticized for never doing any work at all, with anonymous contractors mostly doing the work and the designers performing only light work for the cameras. In 2007, during the makeover for the Carter Family in Billings, Montana, a local radio DJ accused Pennington of using a spray can of grease on his face to make it look like he was really working, only to be confronted over the air by Pennington himself, who called in from the construction site. The largest piece of evidence to prove the design team's contribution to the house and the family is a severe hand injury that Ed Sanders received during a 2006 makeover in Ohio for the family of Jason Thomas. While creating a wood carving of the American flag, Sanders removed part of the guard for a hand-held wood grinder, which led to him slicing one of his hands open.

In an article entitled "ABC's 'Extreme Exploitation'", The Smoking Gun published an e-mail sent on March 10, 2006, from an ABC employee sent to the network's affiliate base, relaying a message from the program's casting agent detailing specific tragedies and rare illnesses sought by the show. Included were a "Muscular Dystrophy Child", a "Family who has multiple children w/ Down Syndrome (either adopted or biological)" and a child with a congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis. This last request included a parenthetical remark stating, "There are only 17 known cases in US - let me know if one is in your town!" This e-mail has led some major media networks and blogs to accuse the show of opportunism in seeking out the most sensational stories in a push for higher ratings.

Spin-off

Another spinoff, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: How'd They Do That?, aired for one season between November 1, 2004 and May 23, 2005; it featured extra behind-the-scenes footage of what had happened in that week's episode.

Broadcast

On December 15, 2011, ABC announced that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition would end its run on January 13, 2012, but continue to air network specials.

Reruns of the series aired on Discovery Family from April 2020 to September 2022.

Reboots

On January 15, 2019, HGTV announced that they would be reviving the series; the revival premiered on February 16, 2020, running for 10 episodes until April 5, 2020.

On June 5, 2023, it was announced that another revival of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was in development at ABC. On May 7, 2024, the series was ordered with Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin as hosts. The revival premiered on January 2, 2025.

International versions

This list includes both officially licensed versions and so-called copies of this show, mostly inspired by that, but not licensed by Endemol Shine Group, the current owner of the format.