Comment from Extreme Makeover Home Edition Worker

Here's a comment left yesterday on my post titled Two More Extreme Makeover Home Edition Homes in Trouble I thought it was very insightful and worth sharing with you all:

I worked as a seamstress on an episode of EMHE a few years ago. The excesses were awful; one of the teenagers got SIX flatscreen television sets in his bedroom. Why?? My task was making bedding for a round bed in a basketball-themed bedroom. Again, how practical is that?!? Have you priced sheets for round beds lately? They provided ONE set of sheets with the bed, and they were black. I felt really bad for them. The stuff we were asked to make was done very quickly, with completely inappropriate materials. It was going to fall apart as soon as the crews left. None of it was going to survive being laundered. But hey, that wasn't the point, was it? I haven't been able to stomach watching the show since then. Another home was done near me and I refused to participate this time.

I hope this isn't a widespread issue with the show, but I'm afraid it might be.

Comments

[Kevin]

I always wondered how well the homes were constructed since they claim to be done in less than a week. Don't the cities require inspections at certain stages of work? Or do they just have an inspector there full time to do the work on-the-fly?

I suspect this show may not last too much longer after a couple more of these foreclosure/troubled homeowner stories.

[Strick]

Seems to be a lot of talk about what ABC did "wrong" with this show for how highly rated it was. I'm not sure how this is bigger waste than the millions that get paid to the actors on any other show. This is not Habitat for Humanity, which obviously has a different purpose and needs to take into account waste, helping people help themselves, that sort of thing. Habitat serves a great need in a seemingly responsible and effective way (many similar to suggestions I've seen in your comments about EMHE), but I guarantee you the filming of a Habitat project would not have been as highly rated as a TV show.

I guess you could say ABC brings this extra responsibility upon themselves by playing the charity card, but thats about as naive as believing State Farm is going to be there like a good neighbor.

[justin]

EHM has existed from the beginning to sell Sears and other sponsor products. End of story. They weren't as excessive at the beginning, but they realized that they had to jazz it up even more to get people to keep watching. And EHM doesn't deserve to be spoken in the same breath with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat homes are built reasonably and the homeowner has to maintain financial repsonbiility for that house, even if the burden isn't as great as it would be to buy a normal house.

[Meoip]

Many builders can build a home in a week or so. If you have a near unlimited supply of labor and money its simple not that hard of a task to build a home in a week. The only time consuming parts are the foundation which they probably don't let fully set and the inspections which they probably pay to streamline. Most houses are built one piece at a time for logistical, cost and necessity reasons. EHME puts many trades on the job most hours of the day. Take note of what you don't see the electrician or the plumber since they can only do one thing at a time. You also don't see much framing going on; having 6 guys or gals work isn't good TV. They like crowds running around.

[Jim]

The way they rush through construction, its not a surprise to me if they cut some corners.

EMHE may be a bit flashy and unpractical in what they do but when it comes down to it they are still giving people very expensive home upgrades for free. They could be a bit more responsible with what they are doing by educating the home owners and giving them homes that are more affordable long term. But I still find it hard to fault EHME much since they're giving away free stuff worth a lot of money. Its looking a gift horse in the mouth in a way. Ultimately the responsibility for the homes lies with the home owners.

Jim

[Kevin (ReturnToManliness)]

You know they have people looking into every home they ever did and making sure no foreclosures will happen again. They will buy the house and keep it off the radar screens before they let one of their flagship shows take another black eye.

[Tortellini on Demand]

Then there was the story of the family that took in three children whose mother had died of breast cancer. EMHE even purchased a marker for the mother's grave, which the children had been unable to afford. The children attended the same church as the family and were told this was to be their new home.

Shortly after the completion of the home and the airing of the show, the children were put out and are now homeless orphans. I kid you not. This was widely reported in the news because the children filed a lawsuit and the court ruled against them.

[Terry]

I agree with alot of the comments. We are advent watchers of the show. It is nice that they help these families in need out and provide so much assistance but.....with what is spent on these homes of enormous size, they can help whole communities in need with community centers, teen help/involvement centers, and everyone would benefit from the communities generosity. Thanks for listening.