Review: Six Reasons Why The New 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' Is Horrifying

There are times when I watch a show for the first time and when it's over, I find myself wondering what network executives thought when they saw the final cut of the episode for the first time. They allowed the show to keep producing new episodes, so presumably they didn't hate it. But based on my startled reaction to what I've seen onscreen, I wonder if any executive found themselves thinking the network notes equivalent of "we're hosed?"

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is back with what ABC refers to as a "reimagined" version of the show and while I don't know what they producers were imagining, based on the final product, I can't help thinking that their imagination might need its own reboot.

Based on the first episode, this show is horrifyingly bad. It manages to strip out everything you enjoyed about the original Ty Pennington version and there are multiple moments when they'll jump to something new and you'll find yourself thinking, "did I just doze off and miss something?"

I attempted several versions of a traditional review, but I struggled to find the words to describe this train wreck mashed up with a tornado and an outbreak of monkey pox. So instead, let me just highlight some of the problems I had with this show.

1) The new hosts are Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin, co-founders of the "global lifestyle brand" The Home Edit. Yes, the duo have three NY Times best-selling books as well as an international line of home products. But when it comes to hosting a television series, their style can best be described as the unusual combination of being both lightweight AND awkward. A problem which should have been obvious to anyone who bothered to watch their short-lived Netflix series.

2) Designers Wendell Holland and Arianne Bellizaire are also part of the show's main on-air ensemble. Which means that all four principals in the show are designers and home organizers. Which is a brave choice for a show that was best known for showing the craziness surrounding the construction of a new home. In fact, the ABC logline for the show leans into this unexpected choice:

Alongside designers Wendell Holland and Arianne Bellizaire, Shearer and Teplin will harness their world-renowned organizational expertise to thoughtfully design and specifically tailor each home from the inside out.



3) As a result, building expertise isn't required at all for the on-air staff. The designers barely visit the construction site at all, while Ms. and Ms. Home Edit are busy having the makeover family weeding through their possessions as part of their "Home Edit." Watching that segment made me realize this version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition had as much to do with the original series as the new version of Matlock had to do with the Andy Griffith mother show. This "reimagining" brought back the easy-to-market name, but that is about all.

4) The volunteers are barely acknowledged. They are mentioned at the top of the episode and the implication is that at least some of them are from the neighborhood and know the family. But given the family is being given a new house on a site that looks to be removed from their original neighborhood, I can't help thinking the volunteers were mostly builders, craftsman and employees of the advertisers, who were volunteered into working for free by their bosses.

5) The show doesn't even follow its mandate. Once again, all I have to go on is the premiere episode. But in that episode, the house is built for a mother of three who lost her husband to COVID. A sad story and both she and her children deserve some help. But contrast their experience with this ABC description of the show, which describes the series as being full of:

...mind-blowing builds for deserving families who give back to their communities."

With all due respect to everyone involved, I'm not sure that "tragically losing your spouse and father" is the same thing as someone giving back to their community. I just can't help thinking there might have been someone worthy available who also gave back to their community in a more substantive way.



6) This 2025 version makes me miss Jesse Tyler Ferguson. He hosted the 10-episode 2020 attempt to reboot the show and while he was also not suited for the hosting job, he was capable of being a solid host. Which is more than I can say for two other hosts I could name.

I could keep going with this for awhile, but you get the point. This version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was a bad idea. After two ill-fated reboot efforts in a row, I can't help thinking that maybe its time to let this show go to the great TV show format graveyard in the sky.

If you absolutely must have a show such as this on your primetime schedule, you'd be better off rebooting the long-running BBC series DIY SOS: The Big Build. A show which is everything that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition can never be.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition premieres Tuesday, January 2nd, 2025 on ABC.