On NBC, Reality TV Plays Fairy Godmother To Cinderella Schools

by Carol Scott · 2010-10-20 05:30:00 UTC
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Former beauty queen? Check. C-list celebrities? Check. Arnold the Governator? Double check. Serving up a heaping helping of tears, cheering and hysterical thank-yous, the first episode of School Pride, NBC's reality TV school-makeover show, is exactly like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. All it's missing is a loud chorus of "Move! That! Bus!"

Cockroaches, mice, moldy ceilings, bathrooms without soap or paper towels -- these chilling shots are in the "Before" shots of Enterprise Middle School in Compton, California, the school chosen for the kick-off episode of TV's version of school reform. Welcome to Enterprise, nicknamed "Enterprison" by some of its students because of its grafittied bathrooms, gopher-infested sports fields and a science lab where chemicals are stored in old water bottles.

In School Pride, a team of superheroes swoop in with the battle cry, "America, it's time to fix our broken schools." With the help of corporations, these Ty Pennington sound-a-likes listen to stories from the students while sadly shaking their heads, rally the teachers and staff, and organize a community-wide renovation of the school in only 10 days. Grab your hankies for the ending, where tearful teachers shriek at a library (brought to you by People Magazine), a new science lab lined with microscopes and new computers (brought to you by Microsoft) and a perfectly-manicured football field and track (brought to you by Starter).

Like any makeover show, you'll find yourself rooting for the makeover-ees, especially the two students who serve as informal spokesboys for the school. Look! There's Arnold Schwarzenegger, telling kids, "I am here to pump! You up!" Look! It's a community coming together to save a school! We are the Supermen we've been waiting for!

But stepping back, something seems a little... off. Why does Arnold Schwarzenegger need the help of reality TV to get cockroaches and mold out of a public middle school? Why does the science teacher in the show have to buy his own supplies, and will that change after the show is aired? How did the school get so run-down and dilapidated, anyway? And who will manicure the new field, maintain the microscopes and keep the grounds clean once the cameras are turned off?

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has never promised social change (although they have scaled back their renovations after finding recipients struggling to pay for upkeep). Besides vague statements about communities coming together, School Pride doesn't offer any solutions, either. The narrators don't talk about how to save the schools that are struggling off-camera, or encourage businesses to donate without the bonus of product placement. They also don't address the ridiculousness of Enterprise Middle School needing a TV crew and a team of C-list celebrities in order to have bathrooms stocked with soap and paper towels.

Will School Pride be the kick in the pants we need to start our own help-our-schools movement, sans cameras, fake tears and sponsorship by Microsoft? You'd need superpowers to predict the answer. What is clear is that the premiere of School Pride got fewer viewers than the 200th episode of Smallville. Apparently, bionic aliens saving the world are more exciting than kids in Compton getting a better school.

Photo credit: Kate & Jen

Carol Scott is the Education Editor for Change.org.
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