Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

This is quite simply one of THE most blatantly manipulative shows on the television today. And in my opinion it is also brilliantly timely, incredibly watchable, and an absolute marketing/advertising triumph, particularly for Sears.

And honestly, I can’t stand Ty Pennington, but I find myself actually looking forward to this show from week to week even though I know he’s going to be obnoxious, I know it is completely formulaic and I know that they are totally out to make everybody cry their eyes out and then rush out to buy a Kenmore Appliance.

Of all the “home improvement-style reality shows” this is the one you can seriously feel good about watching. It is always uplifting, nobody gets insulted/has their feelings hurt/hates their new paint color/gets into a fight with a designer, etc. The chosen family always has a serious need for assistance and the end result is guaranteed to seriously improve someone’s quality of life.

I like the way they rally entire communities around projects. I like the fact that you can watch this show and feel good about humanity for an hour. To be reminded once a week that people actually still care about each other is something television rarely accomplishes in the family hour anymore. My only suggestion for improvement at this point would be a running list at the end of each show of national volunteer organizations where your average family can get involved in the “real world” version of helping out your neighbor.

Anyway, I’ll stop gushing about that now. On to the garbage I’m watching instead.

Lost

Love it. Wish it was on every night. This is the only new season show I’m actually making every effort to see and it’s the only thing I’ve set the VCR for so far.

Survivor: Again

I still find this show worth watching but I’ll admit that I’m slowly weaning myself off of the rabid obsession of years past. I don’t know the names of half the castaways this time and I can’t tell any of the guys apart. But I keep watching. The island is pretty amazing and I can’t wait for a volcano eruption.

CSI: Las Vegas

Thanks to Spike’s CSI marathon last month we’re both hooked on this one. My mother keeps encouraging us to watch NCIS too but we keep missing it. Will try tomorrow night.

Desperate Housewives

This show was marketed like crazy but I chose not to watch it when it premiered last week because the promos made it look like a brainless sex-fest. Imagine my surprise Saturday night when I watched the replay and discovered that it’s actually a pretty sharp show with interesting and familiar characters, great writing, a mystery to uncover AND a sex-fest. Good times.

I think that sums it up for now. I gave Jack & Bobby a whirl but it was just too much Christine Lahti for me. Next up is another round of the Amazing Race, which I’m very much looking forward to.

So tell me, am I missing out on anything good here?