Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Season Premiere Sunday, September 26, 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET

As the iconic "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" returns for an eighth season, deserving families in need of a newly rebuilt and decorated home will not be the only ones undergoing a major renovation. The "Extreme Makeover" team goes through a makeover of its own as three new designers are added to the mix. In addition, viewers will see twists and surprises in special, themed episodes and unique ways that design team leader Ty Pennington will deliver his traditional morning wakeup call. The show will also extend its reach to include whole communities in making dreams come true.

Joining the series for Season 8 will be Leigh Anne Tuohy (a successful interior decorator, best known for being portrayed by Sandra Bullock in 2010's Oscar-winning film, "The Blind Side"), Xzibit (a tireless performer in music, film and television) and Jillian Harris (a successful designer for restaurants, residences, furniture and fashion who previously was featured as "The Bachelorette" in Season 5). All three were "Get on the Bus" celebrity volunteers during Season 7 and were so incredibly moved by their experiences that they asked to be a part of the design team.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" continues to unite the people selected with their favorite entertainers, athletes, politicians and role models. Participants this season will include Cedric the Entertainer, Christie Brinkley, Kristen Chenoweth, Derek Hough, Shaquille O'Neal, Katy Perry, Raven-Symoné and the kids from "Modern Family."

Special themed shows will include an innovative tears-free episode featuring top comedians, guaranteeing that the audience will be laughing instead of crying throughout the episode. Another, themed "New York! New York!," will feature a Broadway-like production with the entire blue shirt crew and design team singing and dancing while the house is being demolished. Also, the show ventures into new territory by doing a different kind of "door knock": In one instance, a family discovers they're the latest recipients of a new home while surrounded by thousands of cheering fans at Yankee Stadium.

In addition to rebuilding homes, the EMHE design team will be rebuilding other structures, including a school for promising youth in Baltimore, Maryland. Viewers and fans may notice that some of the homes may not be as extreme in size as in the past, yet all of the builds will continue to be "extreme" when it comes to innovation, quality and being environmentally friendly.

Ty Pennington leads up the team of designers in a race against the clock to turn people's wildest dreams into reality. Each episode is self-contained and features a project that would ordinarily take at least four months to achieve, involving a team of designers, contractors and several hundred volunteer workers who all have just seven days to totally rebuild and decorate an entire house -- every single room, plus the exterior and landscaping. The result should be a decorator's delight, if it can be done in time.

The show has won two Emmy Awards(r) for Outstanding Reality Program, plus two People's Choice Awards, the Family Television Award for Best Alternative/Reality Program, an NAACP Award as Outstanding Reality Series, and a Service to American Leadership Award presented by the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation. The show was named the 2010 Contractor of the Year for Residential Contractor magazine and also received the 2010 Innovator Award from NATPE, recognizing achievement in unscripted television.

Along with the three new designers, Leigh Anne Tuohy, Xzibit and Jillian Harris, the returning designers include team leader Ty Pennington, with Paul DiMeo, Paige Hemmis, Michael Moloney, Ed Sanders, Tracy Hutson, Eduardo Xol and John Littlefield. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is produced by Endemol USA, of Endemol Holding, and executive-produced by Brady Connell & George Verschoor. David Goldberg is Chairman, Endemol North America.