Feeds
In a piece for Newsweek, Rabbi Marc Gellman praised both shows for performing good deeds for needy people.
"Who would have thought that the prophets for this generation of spiritually acceptable television would be a hip-hop rapper named Xzibit and an ex-J Crew model named Ty Pennington," Gellman wrote. "I hereby proclaim the Gospel of Pimp My Ride and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
"What I see in these two shows is a saving radiant glimmer of how television married to compassion (and a blown 450cc short block engine) can produce programs that are both hip and healing, both popular and profound."
He continued: "For those of you who have only just returned from Alpha Centauri and have not yet seen these shows, 'Pimp' is on MTV. That in and of itself is astounding because MTV is the Mt. Sinai of the grave-disturbance theory. 'Makeover' is on ABC, which in its own act of moral blindness brings us 'Desperate Housewives' immediately following 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.' Anyway, both shows select poor, needy and worthy people, some of whom are also courageous and sick.
"The convulsive gratitude of the recipients upon first seeing their new ride or new home far exceeds anything I have ever witnessed among the grateful people I know (both of them). And let me tell you I have seen the transfixed ecstasy of Pentecostal snake handlers and it is nothing compared to the joy of a guy learning that he now has a bowling ball washer in the trunk of his car."
Click here to read the rabbi's article, "Pimp My Faith," in full.
