Million Dollar Neighborhood

This Week’s Top 5 Moments on OWN

by patricia on June 16, 2012

Each Friday, we are taking a look back over the week and bringing you the “Top 5 Moments” of OWN programming each week.   There were plenty of moments to pick from….so much good stuff and we did our best!

  • “Oprah’s Next Chapter” with Paris JacksonMust admit, we were a little bummed that the Jackson family were only able to give a half hour.  This is a family that everyone has grown up talking about.  It doesn’t matter where you lived…everyone knew Michael.  As soon as cameras rolled onto Paris, there was a sense of relief.  She looked good and seemed to be doing well.  After losing her father so many of us worried about what would happen to the family and most importantly the kids.  The best moment was when Paris shared her father’s views on covering their faces when they were young.  Although many of us understood at the time that he was trying to protect them (in Michael’s unique way), what we didn’t realize is that by doing this he enabled his children to have a semi-normal life.  They were able to go out with nannies without any disguises.  What a gift.  Michael gave them the childhood he was never able to have.
  •  “Our America with Lisa Ling”Let’s be honest…it isn’t easy watching young girls dress up with a ton of makeup and dance like they need a pole.  It makes everyone uncomfortable.  As Lisa Ling asked parents about beauty pageants and the effect it was having on their children, it was obvious that the parents were still a little uncomfortable with the whole thing.   The moment that was most interesting was when the parents of Keisha told us that they would love their child regardless.  It was a sweet moment, but crazy!  Although her parents give her that unconditional love, the message the beauty pageant sends is that unless you are flawless…society may not.
  •  “Super Soul Sunday” with Sarah Ban Breathnach- Last Sunday, Oprah sat back down with Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of “Simple Abundance”  to discuss how fame changed her life and the lessons it brought to her.  The greatest but simplest aha moment came late in the interview.  When they talked of her journey, Oprah asks Sarah, “Do you ever wish the fame and fortune never happened.”  Sarah’s response was, “No. I wish I was more prepared.” Sarah talks of wishing for a secret master class that helps someone when they arrive to fame quickly.  But Oprah reminds us, ask when you do not know.  Oprah says, “I knew that early on – that I didn’t know how to manage it – so I wasn’t afraid to ask for help.”  Like a true teacher, teaching us through her own actions. When you don’t know, ask. When you want answers, ask. When you need help, don’t be afraid. Just ask.
  •  Lives on Fire”– Only a couple of weeks in and we are already beginning to love the courageous women on “Lives on Fire.”  As each of them maneuver their careers and still attempt to maintain a personal life, we see their personalities begin to emerge.  Trying to constantly prove themselves, they are pushing themselves physically and mentally.  Now don’t get me wrong.  Women can do ANYTHING a man can do, but the pressures they feel in a male-dominated field…it isn’t easy.  However, these women are truly holding their own!
  • “Million Dollar Neighborhood” The show premiered giving practical advice about coming together and making a change. Revealing embarrassing financial secrets, people shared the emotional baggage that had locked them into their unhealthy spending. “You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t know where you are,” host Bruce Sellery tells us. He is so right. If you have no idea what is happening, you can’t begin to adjust it. Not acknowledging it…won’t make it go away!
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Pop Culture Passionistas

We’ve spoken to some famous financial advisors, but we’ve never enjoyed it as much as we did when we talked to Bruce Sellery. For the first time we were chatting with someone who seemed to break the fine art of saving down into very non-threatening and applicable terminology. So it’s not a surprise that he’ll be able to help transform the town of Aldergrove on the new OWN series Million Dollar Neighborhood.

During our recent exclusive interview, Bruce talked about his journey from author to TV host. “I wrote a book called “Moolala: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things with Their Money and What You Should Do About It.” And I was on my book tour and the production executive at Force Four Entertainment saw me on TV and said, ‘We gotta talk to that guy.’ So I came in and talked to them and they told me the concept.”

Photo courtesy of OWN

Little did the producing team know that the concept of Million Dollar Neighborhood  was so perfectly aligned with Bruce’s own philosophy. He recounted, “I said, ‘You’ll never believe it but I have four pillars in my book. There are four things that I talk about, speak about, natter on about, and am passionate about and one of them is community. So I’m a real fanand believer in the power of community and I can’t name another personal finance expert that talks about community as loudly and as passionately as I do.’ So it was a match made in heaven because what they wanted to do was all about community.”

Bruce outlined his four pillars for us:

  1. Context — “Smart people do dumb things with their money because we don’t create a context for money. We don’t answer the question, ‘What is my money for?’ And you saw this in the first episode, it’s an exercise from my book, where I have everybody answer, ‘What’s your money for?’ And if you know what your money is for, you are more apt to be inspired to do the boring crap that one needs to do to get a handle on their money.”
  2. Consequences — “Smart people are oblivious to the consequences of their behavior around money. So we all do dumb things but we don’t really know how much it’s costing. Carrying credit card debt costs you big money… It kills your dreams and people have no idea that that’s happening.”
  3. Complexity — “They either have way, way too much or way too little. Way too much is people who are trying to follow the stock market every day. I don’t give a rat’s patooty what’s happening on the stock market. I want to make sure that you know what your net worth is and that you have a plan to bring your dreams to life. That’s important. What’s happening in Greece is not important to you and your money.”
  4. Community — “Getting clear on what you want and talking to your friends and family about it so they can provide you with the support, the ideas and the accountability to make it happen.”

All four principals will be brought to bear on Million Dollar Neighborhood. But it’s the “it takes a village” concept that we’ve been hearing about all these years that is the backbone of the show.

Bruce explained how the Canadian town of Aldergrove was chosen for the show. He recalled, “They lobbied for this and they lobbied hard.They put out the call in British Columbia, in the area and said, ‘We’re looking for a community.’”

As is often the case, it took an individual to step up and lead the charge and then others followed. Bruce revealed, “There was this one guy, Bruce Heslop, who had started a crime watch in Aldergrove because he kept getting robbed. And so he became a bit of a leader in the community. He started a Facebook page and he brought the producers to town halls. And really the reason they won was because the community said, ‘Please come and bring everything you’ve got. We are ready for this. We want this. And we’re going to engage at our most passionate level.’ We didn’t want to go to a community that didn’t want to make this transformation.”

The citizens of Aldergrove were certainly ready to make personal changes and bare their financial souls. Bruce conceded, “In the world of reality TV, please, Kim Kardashian she shares everything — but she’s Kim Kardashian. But these people, you’ll see in later episodes. Why are the Heslops willing to tell us that they have $140,000 in credit card debt? And really what it’s about is they’re sick of lying. They’re tired of pretending.”

Bruce says that’s something to consider when it comes to the financial crisis that the world is in at the moment. He pondered the notion,“Imagine if America stopped pretending. What would be the possibility of people being authentic about what’s really happening in their financial life?”

As goes Aldergrove, so goes the world. See how Bruce helps the 100 participating families from the Canadian town as they try to reach their goal — to increase their collective net worth by $1 million in three months. And find out which lucky clan walks away with the ultimate $100,000 prize if they do.

 

Million DollarNeighborhood airs on Saturday nights at 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. Central on OWN.

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Get ready America! OWN is crossing borders and bringing us the great Canadian show Million Dollar Neighborhood. For a sneak peek of the series, OWN is giving us a 5 minutes.  Take a look, then tune in to OWN on  Saturday, June 9th at 9/8c and see what all of our Canadian neighbors have been talking about!

 

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OWN has released their summer primetime schedule and we are SO excited!  President of OWN, Sheri Salata shared that “Our new summer series have a common thread of being fun, entertaining and meaningful…It’s important to give the audience programming that makes them feel good, or provides them with inspiration in their own lives.”  That is one thing that OWN seems to be getting right as they continue to build the network show by show.   It won’t be long until the world considers them to be the template for exceptional programming.

“We feel strongly about the current state of the channel,” added Erik Logan, president, OWN. “We’re seeing success with our original programming and are continuing to build the network one night at a time.”

Here is how the schedule lays out from OWN.  As a special treat, they have released previews to all the shows except ONC.  I included them below with the show descriptions.  Enjoy!

Fridays: (starting June 8th)
     9-10PM – “Lives On Fire”
Saturdays:  (starting June 9th)
     9-1PM “Million Dollar Neighborhood”
     10-11PM “Real Life: The Musical”
Sundays:
     9-10PM “Oprah’s Next Chapter” featuring actor Neil Patrick Harris, Spiritual Healer John of God & more.
     10-11PM “Our America with Lisa Ling” (starting June 10th)
Mondays: (starting June 4th)
     9-10PM “Are You Normal, America?”– Sneak preview after “Oprah’s Next Chapter”  on June 3rd at 10PM

Coming in…
July:“Super Saver Showdown”
August:“Lovetown, USA”

Lives on Fire highlights the journey of four women who risk their lives daily to assist in California’s most dangerous disasters. These female firefighters respond to life and death situations; battle the intense heat…all in a predominately male profession while they struggle to find the balance in work and home as mothers, daughter, wives, and girlfriends. Each of the women bring a little something different to the show as they try to balance the danger and normal everyday life.

[read more…]

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Credit: CTV News

Premiering last January, Million Dollar Neighbourhood quickly became a fan favorite with our OWN neighbors in Canada.  With a second season already commissioned, OWN decided to share the show with OWN viewers in the States.  

Million Dollar Neighbourhood is not your average reality show!  In fact, the show participants all take part in a social economic experiment…we know, we mentioned the cold word of economics, don’t lose us.  The show challenged families living in this small town of Aldergrove, Canada, to increase their collective net worth by $1 million in just 10 weeks.  However, they didn’t do it alone.

A financial team gave families a challenge each week to help them increase their income, reduce their debts and overall improve their financial standing. Not only did they receive the tips they need to be successful, they also were given opportunities to win money.  Now that the show is coming to the US,  viewers will be able to watch and learn…possibly changing our own lives.

This concept is unique and if done right, it could educate us all on small and big changes we can make to create a stronger financial foundation for our own families.  We only hope that it translates to big ratings for OWN and just maybe Oprah will bring it to our town! As of yet there is no premiere date, but we imagine that it shouldn’t take long since the show has already been airing in Canada for months. As soon as we hear anything we will let you know!

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