I'm such a sucker for feel good TV. What can I say, I like to see good things happen to deserving people.
Tonight I watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition, where they rebuilt the house of a family with a woman that spends her time as an advocate of disabled people. Of course they did an amazing job and it was great to see the family's reaction when they returned.
Do you think a show about doing nice things for people would have ever made it on the air even five years ago? I'm skeptical that it would. I think it says something about what people are feeling these days. In a lot of ways, I think it's easier to have faith in God than it is in the human beings around you, so a show like this, however motivated by corporate profit and television ratings, is something people very much want to see.
It's interesting though how TV can have positive effects that were not intended. Look at Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. There's another show that's essentially about improving the lives of people. People love to see that. And the nice side effect in this case is that, hopefully, people aren't such assholes about people being gay.
When I first saw the previews for that series, it never looked like the type of show I would watch. After seeing a few episodes, I was hooked. I am amazed at some of the stuff they pull off in under a week's worth of time.
It is definitely the type of show that makes you stop and really think about how well you have it. No matter how bad you might think things are, unfortunately there are always people in a much worse situation.