If you’ve suffered through seen ABC’s Extreme Makeover show, you’ll find that it’s a seemingly heart felt effort to try to improve a family’s situation after repeatedly suffering from the downside to Murphy’s Law. Perhaps I’m jaded or have a better BS detector than most, but to me, the show is nothing but sentimental puffery to appeal to the same crowd who buys magazines from Publisher’s Clearing House.

Much of it is feel good tidings wrapped in a super sad beginning, get you feeling all warm n’ fuzzy, then climaxes with a super happy, fantasy land ending with lots of smiling neighbors and ecstatic homeowners that gives the impression that everyone will live happily ever after for ever and ever.

How quaint? It almost has a certain It’s a Wonderful Life quality to it.

All the while, ABC gets to sell a boatload of prime time advertising dollars while looking squeaky clean.

Of course, behavioral economics doesn’t exist in fantasy land. There is a dark side to giving lots of home equity (e.g. money) to individuals that might not be accustomed to having it, much less, giving them a massively upgraded home and expect them to pay for the upkeep and maintenance after the TV cameras shut down.

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I can understand that the show’s creator(s) and producers are/were just trying to do some good, but sadly, when you give someone a huge asset who isn’t accustomed to having it, a few guidelines and follow up consultations should be required to make sure the homeowners don’t end up in the same situation a few years later.

Otherwise, you’re inadvertently setting them up for failure… no matter how good your intentions might have been.