'Extreme' surprise today for an ohana
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Staff Writer
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A Honolulu family was scheduled to get a rarefied wake-up call this morning - a bullhorn blast, accompanied by a cheerful "Good Morning" by a TV host and pitch man - when ABC camera crews bring good tidings: Their home will undergo a remarkable renovation in seven days, while the family is sent on a luxurious vacation.
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," the Emmy Award-winning reality series, will launch its fall 2007 season in September with an episode showing the renovation of an Island home - inside and out, complete with landscaping - by a team of volunteers.
It had been expected that "Extreme Makeover" would eventually come to Hawaii. Deserving families have been competing for the makeover mission, and Mayor Mufi Hannemann was part of a promotional video advocating support for a Honolulu ohana.
The series, hosted by Ty Pennington, picks families and sends them off on a holiday so the house can be completely redone, with new interiors, appliances, roofing, flooring, etc. Cameras capture the transformation with a crew of design consultants.
"Somebody will be real happy," said Hannemann, one of the insiders who knows about the surprise visit. He can't identify the community or the family involved, but confirmed that he interceded because the city had to eliminate red tape to facilitate the makeover.
"We had to approve building permits and provide in-kind services, like police, fire and emergency crews," the mayor said.
Typically, workforces by the hundreds redo the house - handling every aspect of a renovation - "and they turn over the keys to the family seven days later," said Hannemann.
Hannemann said the community "is a place where you wouldn't expect," where a particular manao prevails, which is why there should be particular appeal when the program is aired by the network in a two-hour special sometime in September. Viewership ranges from 17 to 19 million.
"Had we not been cooperative, this would not have happened," said Hannemann.
"Extreme Makeover" targets rebuilding not just the homes of needy families but in rebuilding hope. For example, during the 2005-06 season, there were makeovers for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.
