ABC Gives Extreme Makeover: Home Edition the Boot

ABC recently announced the sad news that their hit feel good series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has been canceled. After 9 seasons of rebuilding houses or giving new homes to those who are less fortunate than others, ABC has finally given it the boot. The past couple of seasons have lost viewers, but their biggest drop happened during this one when they moved the show to another time slot. Ty Pennington has already signed on for a new show on ABC and the finale 2 episodes have been confirmed for January. Here are the details on the last 2 episodes.

“Gibbs Family” — On Friday, January 6 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET), “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” travels to Fayette County, Iowa to surprise the Gibbs family, and musician Bret Michaels appears in this episode. Audrey Gibbs is a mother, a widow, a farm owner and a maternal optimist who won’t let anything stop her from raising her six children, not even her blindness and her battle with a potentially fatal condition. Seven months after her husband died, Audrey had a brain aneurism that affected a quarter of her brain – leaving her legally blind. The doctors cannot say if she is going to lose her sight completely or even if she is going to live or die. Audrey has always been pragmatic and has no time for self-pity. She is passionately committed to doing whatever it takes to raise her kids. Realizing she could not continue working as a cosmetologist, she decided to attend massage therapy classes, as she knew it was a career she could still practice after losing her sight. However, Audrey does worry about what will happen to her kids, should the worst happen. The Gibbs family own and live on a farm which they rent portions of to local farmers for additional income. Their farmhouse is in need of significant repair, with no working toilet, a ceiling that’s caving in and a layout that doesn’t work for the family at all- especially for Audrey, if she loses her eyesight completely. The “EM:HE” design team has just seven days to build a brand new home for the Gibbs. The family has been whisked away on a dream vacation to Boca Raton Resort & Club, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, while “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” team leader Ty Pennington, designers Paul DiMeo, Tracy Hutson, Sabrina Soto, Jeff Dye and local builders Larson Construction Company, Inc., as well as community volunteers, build the structure. This episode will air Friday, January 6 (8:00-10:00 p.m. ET) on the ABC Television Network.

“Joplin, Missouri” — In October 2011, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” traveled to tornado-ravaged Joplin, Missouri, to celebrate its 200th episode in historic fashion. The show surprised an unprecedented 7 families with the door knock that changes lives, and the “EM:HE” design team and a volunteer “army” of 13,000 people, along with the builders, will create 7 beautiful homes in just 7 days. In addition, they refurbished a local park, created a new playground and a poignant memorial site to those volunteers who came to the aid of others during and after the tornado. Celebrities who got involved with this episode include LA Laker Kobe Bryant, Kansas City Chiefs’ matt Cassel and Clark Hunt, as well as “Good Morning America’s” Sam Champion. This episode will air Friday, January 13, (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

The series has seen plenty of celebrities helping out and deserving families who needed help. But after 9 seasons and 200 episodes, the series must end. It last longer than its predecessor (the original Extreme Makeover) did, but as well know that times have changed and so has peoples taste. The finale episode (which will be the 200th) will be bittersweet, but also important to those who lost everything in the Joplin tornadoes.

Are you sad to see the series ending? I am, but I know that everybody has to move on so it isn’t the end of the world. The real winners here are those who got the help. And the show always did a good job, even if they did go a bit overboard most of the time. It is the thought that counts, in my opinion and they had plenty of good thoughts when they build the houses.

article source-Disney InfoNet