palmtreegirl
Loving life in Florida
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20050811/en_tv_eo/17134
"Makeover" House Not a Home
By Joal Ryan 2 hours, 15 minutes ago
A new house does not heal all wounds--no matter how much cathartic hugging and crying goes on at the end of an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Such is the lesson of a lawsuit brought by five orphans who claim they were exploited for, and by, the heart-tugging ABC reality series.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles, is an unexpected sequel to "Leomiti-Higgins Family," the Home Edition episode that first aired March 27.
In the installment, host Ty Pennington's handy team descends on Santa Fe Springs, California, where they meet the Leomitis, a Samoan-American family of six, including Grandma, and the Higginses, five orphaned African-American siblings ranging in age from 21-14, both groups living in one crowded three-bedroom house. Viewers were told that the Leomitis insisted the Higginses move in with them after the Higginses' mother and father died within three months of each other in 2004.
"I knew in my heart these kids have got to come stay with us," Firipele Leomiti was quoted as saying on the Website for the homebuilding company that worked on the Home Edition project.
By the end of the hour, the Leomitis' modest ranch-style home has been demolished, and replaced with a nine-bedroom, six-bath, two-story, spa-equipped, state-of-the-art spread. A happy ending is enjoyed by all.
On camera, at least.
In the Higgins family's lawsuit, per reports, the orphans charge the Leomitis used their hard-luck story to attract the attention of Home Edition. Once the attention was had, the new house built, and the TV shoot over, the Higginses say they were all but forced out of the home, the victims of "an orchestrated campaign" by the Leomitis to have the 4,278-square feet of tankless-water-heater comfort all to themselves. In their efforts to hasten the Higginses' departure, the suit alleges, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Leomitis resorted to physical abuse and racial name-calling.
Firipele and wife Lokilani Leomiti are said to be named in the suit as defendants, as are ABC, the producers of Home Edition and the homebuilding company that laid the foundation, as it were, for the budding family feud.
There has been no comment from the Leomitis. ABC, as a rule, does not comment on litigation, and abiding by its rule, it hasn't commented on this litigation. The network did, however, release a statement: "It is important to note that the episode was about the rebuilding of the Leomiti family's existing home to accommodate the inclusion of the five Higgins siblings..." To the L.A. Times's eye, at least, this straightforward, TV Guide-esque episode recap was ABC's way of saying the network was being dragged into a fight that was less about Home Edition, and more about, as the paper put it, "soured relations between the two families."
The big source of contention appears to be the title on the new house. The Leomitis have it, and the Higginses don't, according to the Los Angeles Daily News' accounting the lawsuit.
"We were promised a home," Charles Higgins II, now 22 and the eldest of the Higgins orphans, told the Daily News. "They broke that promise."
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract and fraud.
At present, even Ty Pennington might have a tough time coming up with a feel-good spin on this story
"Makeover" House Not a Home
By Joal Ryan 2 hours, 15 minutes ago
A new house does not heal all wounds--no matter how much cathartic hugging and crying goes on at the end of an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Such is the lesson of a lawsuit brought by five orphans who claim they were exploited for, and by, the heart-tugging ABC reality series.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles, is an unexpected sequel to "Leomiti-Higgins Family," the Home Edition episode that first aired March 27.
In the installment, host Ty Pennington's handy team descends on Santa Fe Springs, California, where they meet the Leomitis, a Samoan-American family of six, including Grandma, and the Higginses, five orphaned African-American siblings ranging in age from 21-14, both groups living in one crowded three-bedroom house. Viewers were told that the Leomitis insisted the Higginses move in with them after the Higginses' mother and father died within three months of each other in 2004.
"I knew in my heart these kids have got to come stay with us," Firipele Leomiti was quoted as saying on the Website for the homebuilding company that worked on the Home Edition project.
By the end of the hour, the Leomitis' modest ranch-style home has been demolished, and replaced with a nine-bedroom, six-bath, two-story, spa-equipped, state-of-the-art spread. A happy ending is enjoyed by all.
On camera, at least.
In the Higgins family's lawsuit, per reports, the orphans charge the Leomitis used their hard-luck story to attract the attention of Home Edition. Once the attention was had, the new house built, and the TV shoot over, the Higginses say they were all but forced out of the home, the victims of "an orchestrated campaign" by the Leomitis to have the 4,278-square feet of tankless-water-heater comfort all to themselves. In their efforts to hasten the Higginses' departure, the suit alleges, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Leomitis resorted to physical abuse and racial name-calling.
Firipele and wife Lokilani Leomiti are said to be named in the suit as defendants, as are ABC, the producers of Home Edition and the homebuilding company that laid the foundation, as it were, for the budding family feud.
There has been no comment from the Leomitis. ABC, as a rule, does not comment on litigation, and abiding by its rule, it hasn't commented on this litigation. The network did, however, release a statement: "It is important to note that the episode was about the rebuilding of the Leomiti family's existing home to accommodate the inclusion of the five Higgins siblings..." To the L.A. Times's eye, at least, this straightforward, TV Guide-esque episode recap was ABC's way of saying the network was being dragged into a fight that was less about Home Edition, and more about, as the paper put it, "soured relations between the two families."
The big source of contention appears to be the title on the new house. The Leomitis have it, and the Higginses don't, according to the Los Angeles Daily News' accounting the lawsuit.
"We were promised a home," Charles Higgins II, now 22 and the eldest of the Higgins orphans, told the Daily News. "They broke that promise."
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract and fraud.
At present, even Ty Pennington might have a tough time coming up with a feel-good spin on this story
