Extreme Makeover is a horrible show and probably does society more harm than good. Extreme Makeover is entertainment. It's not about helping anyone.
They slap together poor quality houses in an extreme rush, but try to make them look like masterpieces by decorating them in a fancy way. Many corners are cut as these houses are built. I wouldn't want one. They are crap under the wet paint. You can't build a nice house in a week, even if you have 1000 volunteers. In fact, having 1000 volunteers building a house in a week is probably the best way to assure it will be crap.
They find families that have some problems and instead of trying to help them find solutions to their problems, they throw money and housing at them. They don't involve the family in the construction of the new home, so the family doesn't feel any pride of ownership in it.
Habitat for Humanity is a much much much better approach. The new homeowner has to work for hundreds of hours on their own house and on others' houses as part of the deal in getting their house. That means they actually care about their house. They also have to pay a (low) mortgage.
But the impact on the owners is only a small part of how Extreme Makeover is bad for society. Millions of people watch this show and are taught by it that you ought to have a nice fancy house with the wide screen tv. That just because you have it a little hard, somebody should come by and give you a mansion. And you shouldn't be expected to lift a finger in making it happen. In fact, you should be sent off to Disney World while your new house is being built. It's all about the keeping up with the Joneses. The blatant consumerism. The viewer watching it is taught to think: "If these guys have the big house, I should too. I'm going to get a mortgage I can't afford and buy that big house because I deserve it."
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ABC said in a statement that it advises each family to consult a financial planner after they get their new home.
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Nice. [/sarcasm] You know, at least that other nanny show teaches clueless parents how to deal with their own children. They don't send them a nanny for a year. They make the parents do the work.
Extreme Makeover is entertainment. It's not about helping anyone.