Extreme Makeover

What’s the Story?

In EXTREME MAKEOVER, viewers watch as people who are unhappy with their looks spend several months in Los Angeles undergoing life-changing plastic surgery and medical procedures before returning to show off their new look to family and friends. Each transformation is made possible by the "Extreme Team," a squad that includes plastic surgeons, fitness trainers, fashion stylists, dermatologists, dentists, hair stylists, and makeup artists.

Is It Any Good?

In theory, Extreme Makeover does good -- people with serious problems like cleft palates and premature female baldness are given a chance to correct them. But for the most part, the show glorifies and sometimes trivializes the notion that plastic surgery is the solution to all appearance-related problems.

While a small portion of each episode is dedicated to the painful recuperation process, and some people are given a "life makeover" that doesn't involve surgery (in one episode, for example, a violinist gets the chance to play with her idol, Leann Rimes), viewers never see how the people who altered their appearances feel three, six, or nine months later. And not knowing whether the folks who went under the knife ultimately felt better about themselves -- or if their issues weren't fixed by the surgery -- is a big question mark to leave hanging.