For 199 episodes, Ty Pennington and his design team have led a television phenomenon that has helped deserving families in all 50 states. This Friday, January 13, at 8/7c, the 200th episode and series finale of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs on ABC. To all who have ever cried or laughed watching an episode of this series over the last nine years, I hope you will set aside the two hours to watch what I believe is the most impressive feat of non-fiction television in a long while. From my experience, no factual television series has attempted to accomplish so much, by so many, for such a good cause, in one single episode.
read moreStunned silence doesn't play especially well on reality TV, but then reality TV hasn't encountered anything quite like New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Archille "Chile" O'Neal, a blues musician from storm-struck St. Bernard's Parish who lost all of his instruments, was moved beyond words when Extreme Makeover: Home Edition's Paul DiMeo — the carpenter with the Buddy Holly eyewear — surprised him with a pickup truck full of gleaming Gibson and Hohner guitars. As he clicked open case after case, O'Neal just shook his head in glorious disbelief.
"You realize these are for you, Chile?" a producer asked off camera. "All these are yours to keep."
DiMeo slung his arm around O'Neal's shoulder and smiled warmly, as the producer asked them to redo the moment. On Take 2, they got exactly the Extreme reaction ABC needed: hoots, hollers and an unholy scream of "Oh, my god!"
As its popularity coread more