Extreme TV Pushes The Limits
Americans love extremes.
From super-sized meals to makeover shows that transform houses and humans into almost unrecognizable improvements of the original, we are a nation that loves just about anything cranked higher.
So it stands to reason that audiences would embrace television shows that feature ordinary people exploring the extremes of their everyday lives.
Such is the premise of a new television show launching Wednesday on the TLC network titled "Extreme Couponing," which takes the rather mundane chore of coupon clipping to a whole new level thanks to a group of devotees who have turned it into an art form.
These are shoppers who are able to bag thousands of dollars worth of groceries a year for only a few bucks. (On one of the first episodes, one participant pays less than $50 for a grocery bill of more than a $1,000.) They spend countless hours gathering, clipping and cataloging coupons, and shopping.
In many cases, items are even free -- thanks to the creative use of coupons and rebates -- and the series displays how the participants sometimes draw a crowd at the market, anxious to see how low their grocery bill will go.
But along with such savvy shopping comes the stockpiling. One woman buys dozens of containers of mustard to maximize her savings, while another has to have special shelves built in her home to store her bounty.
"I think part of it is that there's always a fascination with the extreme," said Mary Elizabeth Williams, a writer for Salon.com. "There's always something that draws us to the freakish, and that's why we had sideshows. There is something about people who are freaks or who have freakish behavior that is compelling because we don't live in that world." -Read more at CNN Entertainment
Americans love extremes.
From super-sized meals to makeover shows that transform houses and humans into almost unrecognizable improvements of the original, we are a nation that loves just about anything cranked higher.
So it stands to reason that audiences would embrace television shows that feature ordinary people exploring the extremes of their everyday lives.
Such is the premise of a new television show launching Wednesday on the TLC network titled "Extreme Couponing," which takes the rather mundane chore of coupon clipping to a whole new level thanks to a group of devotees who have turned it into an art form.
These are shoppers who are able to bag thousands of dollars worth of groceries a year for only a few bucks. (On one of the first episodes, one participant pays less than $50 for a grocery bill of more than a $1,000.) They spend countless hours gathering, clipping and cataloging coupons, and shopping.
In many cases, items are even free -- thanks to the creative use of coupons and rebates -- and the series displays how the participants sometimes draw a crowd at the market, anxious to see how low their grocery bill will go.
But along with such savvy shopping comes the stockpiling. One woman buys dozens of containers of mustard to maximize her savings, while another has to have special shelves built in her home to store her bounty.
"I think part of it is that there's always a fascination with the extreme," said Mary Elizabeth Williams, a writer for Salon.com. "There's always something that draws us to the freakish, and that's why we had sideshows. There is something about people who are freaks or who have freakish behavior that is compelling because we don't live in that world." -Read more at CNN Entertainment
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