“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” Invades West Virginia

04 Dec

Posted by Alex Davis as ABC, Opinion

We usually don’t cover much reality, but I got a call from my mom this weekend. Apparently the reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition went to her city in West Virginia. She went on the first day as a volunteer, and it was the most miserable experience of her life. She recently wrote a MySpace article about it, and I thought it was so funny I’d share it with you. Just warning you, there is swearing in it

The heard takes the hill

Note to Self: When you volunteer for something, be damn sure you know what you’re volunteering for. At the very least, ask someone before they drop you off in the middle of nowhere (sort of - felt like it) with no way out (humor me here - I suppose I could have escaped if I could have felt my legs and feet from the freezing cold). Yeah, I volunteered. I volunteered to be a JACKASS!!

The house pre-demolition

The house, setting up for the demolition takes

I’ve done/been a part of some crazy things but normally, there’s something in it for ME. What was I thinking? What a spectacle! “I’ve made a huge mistake!” (Ten points to anybody who “gets” that reference).

The Braveheart scene… I’ve never watched Extreme Home Makeover - ever. I’ve also never seen the movie Braveheart. I don’t know what they are talking about but apparently, this is what I signed on for.

Let’s think about this for a minute. West Virginia. The land of the smokers and the obese. Whose brilliant idea was it to have these folks jog up a fair size hill, yelling and cheering, waving flags, arms, pick axes, and hammers? WTF. It was ugly and I was part of it!

At first, Alice and I hung back. I think my exact words to Alice were, “I’m not doing that.”

The heard, getting ready to take the hill

The herd took off up the hill. I can’t really remember what happened next but I believe Alice and I looked at each other and I believe she was the first one to follow the herd. Damn. Yeah, I chased her and the heard. We were in last place, at the end of the pack, with cameras practically pushing us up the hill. It was humiliating. I needed to work my way into the middle of the herd and I needed to look as miserable as possible so they would edit me out! This is literally the most stupid thing I’ve ever done.

Back to the herd. What a sight! People wheezing, coughing, falling, gasping for air. Younger people pushing the older people up the hill, others bent half over, others waving their flags and hammers and pick axes.

I was constantly worried that I’d be caught on camera but between my constant miserable facial expressions and the pain of the heard, I’m guessing I have nothing to worry about. Surly they won’t televise that?!

Initially, we were supposed to shoot the hill/Braveheart scene twice but the director came to his senses. If I hadn’t been part of it and had simply been a spectator, it would have been great fun but holy shit, it was horrible.

The “superstar” himself, Ty Pennington, in the stripped hat

It’s all so phony. I won’t even go into the “miner” portion of the day. Between takes, it was non-stop mocking of WV. I saw one, on at least one occasion, break out into a offensive, overly-southern-drawl’d version of “Country Roads” while doing some sort of exaggerated jig, as well as a half-dozen burning couch comments as well.

13 Responses

David Palomares
1
December 4th, 2007 at 8:28 pm

I always hated Ty Pennington, I’m glad I’m not the only one.
GSK
2
December 4th, 2007 at 9:15 pm

I think Ty, and the rest of the guys, make the show what it is. I love watching them, and the show. It’s become a traditional in our home.
steve
3
December 4th, 2007 at 11:17 pm

This article somewhat disappoints me. I know the stereotype is that fame and fortune make people turn into bitter jerks, but I was hoping that somewhere out there, there was at least one celebrity that’s as cheery and personable off-camera as they are on-camera. This article didn’t do that for me. Mbeh… I guess I brought it on myself though. Thanks anyway for posting this. I watch the show once in a while (as in, when nothing else is on and I’m desperate), so it’s cool to hear a bit of the back-story from one of the volunteers.
Chris
4
December 4th, 2007 at 11:21 pm

Where is this MySpace page, all I see she didn’t like is having to run up a hill, she didnt metion anything else till the last paragraph!
CD
5
December 5th, 2007 at 7:06 am

I think Chris is missing the point and humor in what was intended as a simple diary of the day’s events. It wasn’t intended to be a journalistic review of the show, the host, or its production crew. Of course, I think it’s wonderful that this particular family won/was selected to receive a new house. From everything I read, they really deserve it. The entire town/state has gone insane with enthusiasm over the whole thing.

BUT - to say, “she didn’t like having to run up a hill” is an understatement. It was the comedy that ensued while trying to “take” said hill that inspired the diary. It’s all very phony-baloney and I’m glad I got to see what really goes on and am especially glad I got to witness the “stars” and their condescending, I-really-do-not-want-to-be-here attitudes.

Those LA folks really DO NOT like the cold!

p.s. The word around town was if you even speak to or look funny at Ty Pennington, you are removed from the volunteer list and asked to leave immediately. Wonder what happens if you ask for an autograph!?
Marc Power
6
December 5th, 2007 at 7:29 am

too bad she had a horrible time. I never rea;;y liked the ‘braveheart thing” on the show but when you volunteer for something like this you’re supposed to feel wonderful.

maybe habitat for humanity would be a better option, but i hear they have a loooooooonnnnnnnggggggg waiting list.
Neville
7
December 5th, 2007 at 11:03 am

I am sorry to hear about this bad experience - but I did catch that Arrested Development reference. :) There are shows out there that do treat their ‘civilians’ right and ‘celebrities’ who aren’t jerks, but you have to remember that there is a large crowd of volunteers for this show. It’s probably hard to make it a great experience for everyone.
TF
8
December 6th, 2007 at 2:24 pm

I volunteered on Tuesday and it was a pretty disillusioning experience. The actual point of the show was wonderful-building a house for people who really deserve it. I was absolutely amazed at how quickly the house went up and the quality of workmanship. The house is a great testament of the volunteers that came out. However, the show makes it look like the “stars” are there the whole time helping out and actually taking part in the building. This was not the case at all. In fact, while we were working on the house, the “stars” were knocking on someone else’s door in Virginia; shooting part of another episode. It looks like they show up at the beginning and end of the week and then edit the footage to make it look like they played a central role in the build. It’s sad, really. All those great volunteers don’t get the credit they really deserve. Great cause-lousy execution.
CD
9
December 6th, 2007 at 4:48 pm

HA! “TF” this is what I have been saying all along. It’s a sham! The “stars” show for the camera and other than that, in my case, they were in the heated vans sipping tea and watching the poor suckers freeze their asses off. I second that last comment!!! Great cause - lousy execution. If people are under the impression that Ty and the gang are out there busting their butts for the “cause,” they are sadly mistaken!
CD
10
December 6th, 2007 at 4:54 pm

Another thing… assuming ABC executives actually read this… couldn’t this show be done without the “stars” and their salaries? Seriously, who needs them? Pull into town and let the volunteers do their thing and give them the credit they deserve. Ty and the crew aren’t needed! He’s nobody. Nobody would miss him. I’m certain of it.
Lisa Nevin
11
March 5th, 2008 at 1:28 pm

Extreme Makeover recently left my home town of Maynard, MA because of all the local publicity, I found I could google and get tons of info. Although the house isn’t more than 1.5 miles from my house, I’ve only seen pictures of the finished house online. (I did volunteer a wee bit at the site when it was snowing.) As I regularly watch the show, and I knew W. Virginia was the next stop, I happened up on this blog while I was googling, and I’m glad I did. I got quite a chuckle from it.
My thanks to your mother for sharing her experience!
I was really surprised that the producers didn’t time the New England visit to spring/summer or fall, but no, dead winter.
The day they did the ‘braveheart’ scene it was quite frigid and I heard that people were told to gather around 6 am and they didn’t ‘run’ until around noon! I’m sorry to hear that the people insulting the locals.
Jennifer
12
March 6th, 2008 at 2:50 pm

It doesn’t surprise me. I’ve never liked Ty, the show alone and the causes behind it I like. I think it’s wonderful to give a deserving family a beautiful home that will work for them. To believe that the stars actually do any real work isn’t realistic, why wold they? They are stars not working people. The insults about WV doesn’t surprise me either. I live in Ohio, roughly 2 miles from the Ohio River so I am in WV often and I am around the people from the small towns across the river from us. Far too many people like to make snide comments, insulting remarks, degrading jokes about West Virginians and the state without knowing anything about the people or the stat. The same goes for Kentucky and south eastern Ohio. It’s sad to see people act this way that are the figure heads of something that has a great message/cause behind it.
Myron Florin
13
March 10th, 2008 at 11:41 am

Saw the show last night on TV and thought it looked cold there, and must’ve been uncomfortable for the volunteers. And what about the family standing in all that mud? The volunteers who got stuck standing in that, probably didn’t have “wardrobe” to rush in there and give them different clothes or shoes. When the show came to a town near me, the local paper mentioned that volunteers were needed to work throughout the night and early morning. For me, that would be harder than a Braveheart scene.

I realize the show is a lot of fake, about as real as a movie. How could Ty and the rest of the cast possibly prepare for these bits that are supposed to look as spontaneous as possible, if they were there or anywhere, actually WORKING for hours a day. Believe me, the schedule is too tight for this show for them to be sitting in their trailers sipping coffee and playing checkers.

I’d like to know what members of the cast/crew made exactly what couch burning comments, in what context, within ear shot of extras. I find that far-fetched paranoia on the part of the local who wrote this. I feel the cast would be careful about such things.

What are they supposed to do for the crowd scenes? Just film people standing around being themselves. Should they allow each one of the hundreds of volunteers to chat with cast and crew? If they did that, how would they ever produce a show. Anyone who knows an iota about production knows that in Hollywood, it can take a day to film something that last a minute or two on the screen, even in a tightly controlled environment. This production has to be put together with tremendous efficiency, including herding the cattle around.

In every scene where there’s a volunteer and the cast, what would it be like if the TV viewer saw a volunteer shouting “hi” to Ty.

Although I haven’t read a lot about how the show is done. I’d be interested in how scripted and rehearsed are the comments by the family. How do they coordinate the core building people so they aren’t getting in the way of each other when ordinarily sub-contractors are used to working in a much different way. What kind of work does the average unskilled volunteer get to do, if any. Did you get to carry a piece of garbage and put it in a dumpster or what.

In this particular episode, I liked the tiny house. Would’ve been worth keeping if it hadn’t been a wreck inside. Any rumors from people who knew the family, if the door was really off their bedroom, before filming? Now that would be good gossip. Anyway, I liked how they built a relatively small, cozy house for them, instead of a 5000 sq. ft. thing with separate bedrooms for each kid.

What I’m saying is, while I think this account is funny, and done in a pretty honest way, it isn’t that revealing. I think the writer should feel like a jackass for not dressing warmly enough, not for what they were made to do.

Good pictures though. I imagine they had rules about those, as when filming, no cameras allowed in sight. Again, this show is supposed to be telling a story, not centered around volunteers and the things they would have the most fun doing, or even find meaningful at all.