Extreme Makeover-Home Edition

In each episode, a family that has faced some sort of recent or ongoing hardship – such as a natural disaster or a family member with a life-threatening illness – is profiled. The show's producers coordinate with a local construction contractor, which then coordinates with various companies in the building trades for a makeover of the family's home. That includes

interior, exterior and landscaping, which is performed in seven days while the family is on vacation (paid for by the show's producers), which is documented in the episode. If the house is beyond repair, they replace it entirely. The show's producers and crew film the makeover but do not pay for it. The materials and labor are donated. Many skilled and unskilled volunteers assist in the rapid construction of the house.

EM:HE is considered a spinoff of Extreme Makeover, an earlier series providing personal makeovers (often including plastic surgery) to selected individuals, which the Home Edition has now outlasted. This show displays extreme changes to help recreate someone's space. However, the format differs considerably; in the original Extreme Makeover, for instance, participants were not necessarily chosen based on any recent hardship, whereas the family's backstory is an important component of Home Edition. EM:HE also has similarities to other home renovation series such as Trading Spaces, on which Pennington was previously a key personality.

The series is produced by Endemol USA (the people behind Big Brother, Fear Factor, Deal or No Deal, and other reality shows) in association with Disney-ABC Television Group's Greengrass Television.

The show is one of ABC's top-rated series and has become more popular than the original Extreme Makeover, which struggled to air through its last two seasons and quietly ended with its episodes burned off wholesale in July 2007. The fifth season of the show premiered on September 30, 2007. Series reruns began airing on TV Land on August 7, 2007, making it the youngest non-original show to air on the network.

It was announced on February 28, 2008 that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was renewed through the 2008-2009 season.

The show is hosted by Ty Pennington, formerly a carpenter on the show Trading Spaces. It is sponsored by Sears (and their properties, Craftsman and Kenmore), for which Pennington serves as a spokesman and which are prominently featured in the episodes. The series is devoted to rebuilding families' homes when the family is in need of new hope. Some scenes were staged, including the Muppets as guest-stars.

During the 2005–2006 season they went to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina and help communities to rebuild themselves with help from other organizations.

The show also had a series of specials that later became a regular series during the 2004–2005 television season entitled Extreme Makeover Home Edition: How’d They Do That? It was a short-lived spin off of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that featured extra behind-the-scenes footage of what had happened in that week's episode.