Thursday, March 30, 2006

Redefining exploitation

I was going to post something on this season of The Amazing Race, but I'm tired now and heading off to bed. So I'll toss that into the idea heap for another day, along with comments on the provincial budget, what it's like covering a budget if you're a reporter, why a CODCO DVD set is a mixed idea and a few other things.

Instead, I leave you with this. No, it's not as disturbing as the Britney Spears statue. And you can safely follow the link without worry that you might have to gouge your eyes out later.

Instead, it's proof that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is evil. I watched a couple of episodes when it first came out and the charm of the show quickly evaporated for me when it became a disease/tragedy of the week. After reading this story from The Smoking Gun, I'm really beginning to believe the show is evil and must be stopped.

Either that or we round up and shoot all TV executives who dream up memos like this. Perhaps in one of those fabulous refurbished homes that they do on the show. And they can do a very special torture chamber that Ty Pennington has personally worked on all week for the executions.

Creepy, creepy people...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gentle Jesus.

What? No Elephant Man disease? Think of the visuals! What about families with kids allergic to sunlight? Wow, what design concepts could they come up with for a specially modified home for that! Where could we send the family for a weeklong vacation? Caving in Yucatan? Hey, no sun in a cave right? (OK, I'm making myself sick.)

It's the chirpy (great word) tone of the email and the exclamation marks that get to me as well. Apart from the inappropriateness relative to the subject matter (and the subject matter itself), I just have to ask: is the exec age 10 or something?

Anyone passing me a "business" memo written in that childish and girly tone (one sad sorry articling student did try)will be invited none too kindly to grow the fuck up and try again.

I always wondered about building a house which is obviously so overvalued relative to the rest of the neighborhood. Who pays the municipal taxes on the place? I suppose it doesn't matter if you don't owe anything on a mortgage but what will happen when someone tries to sell one one of these days?

And how in hell can they build an entire house in seven days when I'm in month five of my reno?

towniebastard said...

Sadly, I'm pretty sure they've already done the "kid allergic to sunlight" episode...

John Mutford said...

I'm curious as to why you thing a Codco DVD might be a mixed idea.

Anonymous said...

What? You thought that those shows came from nowhere? That they just dialed up people at random and asked if they wanted a new house?

Reality tv is scripted, and shows like this sell ads because we all like to see good things happen to 'good people who deserve it' - which for some people ammounts to have a hard luck/victimization story.

Sadly, we'll never see them revamp a needle exhange.

I always wonder how the beneficiary of a new home is supposed to cope with the new costs of maintaining things. And if the neighbours start to feel a little resentful...