Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Anyone would be beyond thrilled to call a six-bedroom Mediterranean style home their own, and former drug addict turned community charity founder Sadie Holmes was especially grateful the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team built her a home fitting that description. While they were at it, the team built an office for Sadie's charity adjacent to her home.

Sadie was all moved into her Florida home by February 2006, and a month later she was cleared to run a volunteer organization from her home office. The permit came with the caveat that prohibited "outside storage of any materials" unless they were hidden from view, and within months she incurred costly infractions for things like portable restrooms and abandoned vehicles.

A $29,000 lien was place on Sadie's house when she failed to show up on at least one occasion to plead her case to the code-enforcement board, and she risks losing her home if she can't come up with the money. The $29,000 is difficult for her to come up with because of her other expenses, like $3,000 for her charity's storage and $6,600 annual property taxes. Sadie plans on appealing her case.

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This is one Extreme Makeover: Home Edition story that may leave you with a bout of frustration rather than a waterfall of tears. Some of the 1,800 volunteers that worked night and day to build the Harper family's new four-bedroom home in 2005 are reeling with aggravation after learning the family's home will be auctioned due to foreclosure.

The donated materials used to build the home are valued at about $450,000, and the construction company donated an additional $250,000 for a home-maintenance fund and scholarships for the family's three kids. Rather than be satisfied with this generosity, the Harpers decided to test their luck and used the home as collateral for a $450,000 loan to start a construction business that ultimately failed.

The mayor of Lake City, GA, helped construct the home for his city's residents and had this to say about the unhappy ending: "It's aggravating. It just makes you mad. You do that much work, and they just squander it." Do you think they should be blamed for making a careless decision, or should they be forgiven for trying to continue bettering their lives?

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These folks skewer the formula of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in a variety of ways. For starters, it's now just called "I'm Nice!" In addition, the team shows up to fix up a perfectly fine upper middle class home, but not before they announce that one of the family members has cancer. What do they do to "fix up" this home? Find out for yourself...

I've said before that I'm a bit of a sap, and it's never more evident than when I break into tears while watching TV. There are a bunch of moments that always make me lose it — no matter how predictable or silly they are, no matter how many times I've seen them — and so, just in case you're feeling mopey today, I'm counting down a few of the scenes most consistently guaranteed to leave me drowning in a pile of soggy tissues.

No. 5: The final moments of "A Wedding Story"
There was a period in my life when I worked nights and had days free, and so my morning routine went a little like this: Wake up late, make lunch, turn on TLC, cry. The whole "A [Something] Story" block of programming could make me weepy — yes, even "A Makeover Story," in my weaker moments — but "A Wedding Story" was by far the worst. No matter what squabbles the couples had on their way to the ceremony, no matter how many disasters with the caterers or the parents, the couples always made it down the aisle just fine, looking beautiful and ready to say "I do."

No. 4: The crowning of the "American Idol"
It's one of the most predictable events in television, at this point. Most of the time, it's not even surprising to learn which of the final two "Idol" contestants is going home with the crown, and we've already heard the cheesy coronation song at least twice. But there's still something about an overwhelmed teen or 20-something getting showered with confetti and balloons, singing in front of an audience of millions and somehow holding it together despite the overwhelming emotions, that gives me chills — regardless of whether I even like the winner.

Three more, including my No. 1 scene guaranteed to bring the tears, so read more