A reality Show I can get behind

[lotusbiosm]

So, The Real World has gone from a great original premise (get people of diverse backgrounds to live together, and see what happens. Show it to young people, and hopefully open their minds) to a spectacle in drunken stupidity. Many other reality shows focus on creating really unfair competitions, or capitalizing on people's insecurities and are just plain shallow. But Extreme Home Makeover is good stuff. Tonight's episode features an amazing story. A husband and wife, who have four kids. Nothing extraordinary about that. But that's not the whole story. The husband's mother was visiting one day, and was hit by a stray bullet from a gang shootout that happened outside (they live in LA). Her death left her minor children, the husband's younger siblings, orphaned. So they took them in. The husband bought a new house, because they needed more space, but they couldn't afford much. So the house is not up to code. And the social services people are threatening to take away the children if they don't fix it up. So the show is rebuilding their house. From the ground up! They sent the family on a seven-day trip to DisneyWorld (which is in FL) while they build them a new house. (yeah, it's on ABC, so it's easy to do something Disney related, but it's still something the family never could have afforded) The original house was 2 stories, but Ty, the host (formally of Trading Spaces) decided they needed a third story, so that they could have a study and music room, with lots of light. It's an immense project, nd they're being assisted by contractors from a major building firm in LA. Now, some of the decorating they're planning, is, I think, over the top. Because they do themes for the kids' rooms, for example, a dinasour theme for the boys and a spy theme for one of the girls. But the idea is wonderful. The parents seem like wonderful people, and this is such an amazing thing to do for a family. Yes, everyone deserves a good home, but this is a great way to start. On top of the wonderfulness, one of the kids is autistic, so he gets his own specially designed room.

So, I, the girly sap, have been crying off and on through it, b/c it's so amazing.