Extreme Makeover

Extreme Makeover is a television program from ABC in which individuals volunteered to receive an extensive makeover in Hollywood. The show was created by television producer Howard Schultz. It first aired as a television special. It began airing in 2002 on Thursday nights at 8pm. A total of 55 episodes were produced. The show's first surgeon was Dr. Garth Fisher of Beverly Hills, California; after the pilot show the first six shows included Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Jon A. Perlman, M.D. FACS, Dr. Malcolm Lesavoy and Dr. Harvey Zarem as part of the original "Extreme Team," along with Dr. Bill Dorfman and Dr. Robert Maloney. Other doctors were selected for the next three years in addition to the above.

Borrowing heavily from the reality television genre, the show depicts ordinary men and women undergoing "extreme makeovers" involving plastic surgery, exercise regimens, hairdressing and wardrobing. Each episode ends with the participants' return to their families and friends, showing the reactions of their loved ones, who have not been allowed to see the incremental changes during the participants' absence.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which debuted in 2003, is a spin-off of Extreme Makeover. The home edition ended up becoming far more successful than the plastic surgery edition. Extreme Makeover: Wedding Edition was also piloted as a one-time special, but did not achieve sufficient ratings to be made into a series.

In its first season, Extreme Makeover ranked 40th in the yearly ratings and averaged 11.2 million viewers per episode. However, viewership suffered huge drops over the next three seasons.

On May 15, 2007, Extreme Makeover was officially canceled by ABC. The show's final three episodes were broadcast on Mondays starting July 2, 2007. A later spinoff, Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, premiered in ABC's 2011 summer season.