Photo by Steven St. Johntribune

tribune

Nine-year-old Cordell Yazzie tries to get a glimpse of the action being filmed for ABC TV's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." The show was filming in the Trumbull Village neighborhood, where it replaced the home of an Albuquerque preacher. Filming wrapped Tuesday, when the family was able to see the new home for the first time.

Photo by Steven St. Johntribune

tribune

Ty Pennington, host of ABC TV's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," excites fans for a segment of the show taped in Albuquerque's Southeast Heights. The show finished filming Tuesday.

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The family got out of the limousine into the shadow of a tour bus that blocked them from seeing their new home.

The crowd lining the sidewalk cheered.

The show's host hugged the family, camera crews swarmed, and the crowd started chanting: "Move that bus! Move that bus!" urging the driver to let the family see their new home.

But it wasn't Albuquerque's Martinez family, who were still on their way back from a trip to a Disney resort, and Ty Pennington's stand-in was short with shaggy black hair.

They were a "fake family" and a "fake Ty," as one spectator put it.

This was preparation Tuesday morning for the climax of an episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," a traveling ABC reality show hosted by Pennington that demolishes the homes of needy families and builds custom homes in their place.

The Albuquerque episode is expected to air later this year.

The Martinez family lives in the Trumbull Village neighborhood, long an area of poverty and crime. Gerald Martinez leads a nearby church and has spent $60,000 buying houses in the neighborhood and turning them into duplexes for the poor.

According to a news release from the show, the Martinez family's living conditions suffered because of their charity — they did not have enough space for their four children and had to use hot plates to cook meals because they did not have a stove.

Construction was completed Monday. By noon Tuesday, landscapers were finishing the front yard with gravel and desert plants; volunteers were moving in furniture and pillows.

Camera crews used the wait for the family to get footage of the crowds.

They cheered when the empty limousine pulled up. "Ty Pennington" opened the door and leaned in as if to greet the family.

Then he closed the door, the crowd quieted, the limousine backed up to the end of the block, and the process was repeated.

The crowd, at the direction of a show crew member, chanted "Move that bus!" even when the bus was gone, while a boom camera — which the crowd was not allowed to look at — swung overhead.

Eventually, street sweepers cleaned the road in front of the house, and the bus backed into place for a final time.

The limo pulled up, and the real Ty Pennington opened the door and greeted the real family.

The crowd chanted "Move that bus!" and the driver obeyed.

The family saw their new home — a large, two-story, pueblo-style building reminiscent of an adobe church — for the first time, and it was real enough.

They covered their faces; they jumped; they yelled; they hugged the builders. Liesa Martinez, Gerald's wife, fell to her knees.

When it was time for the family to enter, they walked up the path to the front door, a look of awe on Gerald Martinez's face.

Then the family was directed back to the road, so the camera crew could get into the house first.