Extreme Couponing (renamed Extreme Couponing: All-Stars for its third season) is an American reality television entertainment series produced by Sharp Entertainment and aired on cable network TLC in the United States and Canada.
History Extreme couponing is an activity that combines shopping skills with couponing in an attempt to save as much money as possible while accumulating the most groceries. The concept of "extreme couponers" was first mentioned by The Wall Street Journal on March 8, 2010, in an article entitled "Hard Times Turn Coupon Clipping Into the Newest Extreme Sport".TIMOTHY W. MARTIN, ", March 8, 2010. On March 25, 2010, ABC Nightline followed up with its Season 3 premiere with a segment entitled "Extreme Couponing Competition: How Far Can $50 Go?"JOHN DONVAN and MAGGIE BURBANK, ", March 25, 2010.
TLC's Extreme Couponing is a show about shoppers who make extensive and focused use of coupons to save money while accumulating large quantities of goods.Laura T. Coffee, "Extreme couponing! How to get $1,100 of merchandise for $40." msnbc.com, April 6, 2011. It was previewed in December 2010; after surpassing network expectations with more than 2 million viewers, it received a series orderJames Hibbard, "'Extreme Couponing' exclusive: TLC special gets series order", Entertainment Weekly, January 6, 2011."Cable's oddball agenda" , Associated Press at LaSalle (Ill.) NewsTribune, May 3, 2011. and began regular airings in April 2011.Susan Salisbury, "Retailers fret over coupon craze", The Palm Beach Post, May 14, 2011.
On June 6, 2011, TLC announced it ordered a second season of Extreme Couponing.TLC, "'TLC ORDERS SECOND SEASON OF EXTREME COUPONING" TLC, June 6, 2011. It premiered on Wednesday, September 28, 2011.TLC, "'TLC UNVEILS FALL 2011 SCHEDULE" TLC, August 2, 2011.
The third season debuted on May 28, 2012.
On November 20, 2015, the show returned to Discovery Family, a sister network to TLC, for a special episode Greatest Givers: Extreme Couponing for its run during the Thanksgiving season.“Extreme Couponing” Returns to TV
Reception The New York Times columnist Virginia Heffernan described the show as "a deceptively simple look at the complex drama of American spending and the paradoxes of parsimony".Virginia Heffernan, "O Thou Great Redeemer(s)", The New York Times, May 1, 2011. E! Onlines critic Jennifer Arrow called it a "recessionista series" marked by "a lot of tawdry, exploitative 'reality and participants "just doing their crazy best to stretch dollars and provide a little more for their families".Jennifer Arrow, "Extreme Couponing Sneak Peek: Awww, Coupon Baby!", E! Online, May 3, 2011. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly noted that the show "has elicited some extreme reactions", and called it "a canny example of two elements floating through the country right now", citing "a fascination with extreme behavior as it's filtered through reality TV" and "the fact that a lot of people don't have as much money as they used to".Ken Tucker, "'Extreme Couponing' review: Weird, selfish people, or thrifty smarties?" Entertainment Weekly, April 6, 2011.
The show has come under fire by consumer bloggers and experts such as Jill Cataldo for potential coupon misuse on the show. Actions such as the use of coupons for incorrect items,Jill Cataldo, "Was coupon fraud shown on TLC's Extreme Couponing?", April 8, 2011.Jill Cataldo, "The Darker Side of Extreme Couponing", Las Vegas Review-Journal , May 25, 2011.Valerie Hoff, "Bloggers take issue with 'Extreme Couponing'" , WXIA-TV, May 25, 2011.Quentin Fottrell, "Extreme Couponing Star: I Was a Scapegoat", SmartMoney, May 11, 2011. using counterfeit coupons, and encouraging compulsive hoarding have been cited as reasons to question the show's authenticity.
Episodes Series overview
Season 1 (2010–2011)
Season 2 (2011)
Season 3: All-Stars (2011–2012) Shoppers compete in a reality series that features 12 of the best "Extreme Couponing" savers in 30-minute challenges to see who can save the most on $500 worth of merchandise, which is then donated to charity.
Season 4 (2012)
Season 5 (2012)
References
External links
Couponing Guide