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Special Feature

Three Wishes

by Sheri McMurray, Contributor
September 16, 2005

If you've been reading popular magazines such as PEOPLE or noticed while surfing the web, you've no doubt seen ads for the new NBC reality series THREE WISHES coming this Fall 2005.

Its catch phrase is “…if you had a wish, what would it be?” At first thought many of us would say, “Win the lottery” or “World peace,” but THREE WISHES asks us to go deeper than the surface. It challenges us to dig into the real hurts and needs we all have in our hearts. It asks us to not think of ourselves, but to look beyond our personal space to those in our families, our neighborhoods and the world outside and deal with real issues and sufferings.

THREE WISHES wants us to explore the possibilities and then takes charge with reachable, doable answers. Viewers will follow the deeply personal and uplifting stories of deserving people as their hopes and dreams are transformed into life-changing reality.

THREE WISHES is a welcome and refreshing expression of the Reality TV show. One that parents can let their children view and actually learn from its example! This program goes further than the concept of do unto others as it represents the core teaching of Jesus in Matthew 25:35-40 “…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.”

Amy Grant joins the Reality Television phenomenon when THREE WISHES premieres Friday September 23rd at 9:00 pm eastern time. Recently named one of the “most promising” new series for Fall by Entertainment Weekly, the one-hour show will feature Christian Amy Grant and leading contributors Carter Oosterhouse (NBC's “Today,” “Trading Spaces”), Eric Stromer (“Clean Sweep”) and Diane Mizota (“Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls”)

Individuals, families and even entire cities are affected as Grant and her team move from town to town across America to grant wishes, witnessing firsthand the extraordinary consequences of their wish-granting and the powerful spirit of community that often helps fuel their missions to make dreams large and small come true.

“Everyone secretly wants the chance to fulfill a lifelong wish that seems beyond their grasp—and this show will help transform those dreams into life-changing reality,” says Jeff Gaspin, of NBC Cable Entertainment.

Host Amy Grant is no stranger to people in need. The five-time Grammy Award winning artist, whose 1988 album, “Lead Me On,” was voted the #1 contemporary Christian music album of all time[1], has spent the better part of her career listening to her fans most intimate problems. She has expressed it this way, “For as long as I've sang people have decided to tell me their life stories. Ever since my first record came out—I was 17 then and I'm 44 now—people have felt comfortable opening up their lives to me… I called my mother (and) said Mom, I have never felt more equipped for a job!” Amy has been continually involved with various causes such as Make-A-Wish, Habitat For Humanity, and St. Jude Children's Hospital to name a few. Producer Andrew Glassman confirms that Amy Grant was their “one and only” choice to host this show.

THREE WISHES Executive Producers Andrew Glassman and Jason Raff (NBC's “Average Joe”) say there's “…incredible diversity to the people we are going to meet and the stories we are going to tell along the way.” Glassman goes on to say that the show will “…ultimately be about the magic as people share their wishes with us. Our team is there to help. This show will be about people helping people make their wishes and dreams come true.”

The idea is not to grant people wishes for money or necessarily material things. The idea is to give happiness to those who are struggling, be it with a family problem (such as keeping the family together by blending it legally), a football field on the verge of collapse (a high school coach's dream so that her kids wont suffer any more injuries while on the field of play), save a whole towns economy by providing jobs (with the major factory teetering on the brink of closing down), or ultimately providing the funding for much needed medical procedures for a little girl involved in a near fatal car accident. Each wish will involve a deeply personal story, and the viewers will follow deserving wishers as Grant and her team of experts help revive those wishes and make them come to life.

Amy reports, “When I heard about this show, I was extremely moved by NBC and the production company's concept to provide incredibly positive changes in the lives of different people. [Seeing this] gave me a reason to look at my own life—and remind myself, once again, to never underestimate the impact that one life can have on another.”

THREE WISHES doesn't stop at the heart wrenching drama of the true stories containing the wishes they grant, but also has incorporated the fun aspect of giving to others. It includes small wishes that people in the towns they visit have independently granted to others. Real proof of the influence THREE WISHES has had on people just from the crews presence there.

Starting September 12, 2005, 15 TV markets (including New York, Philly, L.A. and Las Vegas) are scheduled for a visit where NBC will give $2,500 to a local charity. NBC's THREE WISHES will grant two smaller wishes in each city by going into local stores and picking up customers' tabs. When that happens, those customers will be handed dollar bills with special Three Wishes stickers on them that encourage the dollar bill holder to pay it forward and do something nice for someone else.

The show's Web site encourages people to be on the lookout for Three Wishes Dollars …distributed all across the U.S.

NBC explains why you should check your wallet for their THREE WISHES sticker on U.S. dollar bills:

“Have you received a dollar with a ‘Three Wishes’ sticker on it? If you have one, congratulations! You are part of a special team. Tens of thousands of one-dollar bills have been stickered and distributed across the U.S. In the spirit of the new NBC show, Three Wishes (Fridays at 9/8c), we hope that you will use these special dollars to help make the wish of someone else come true. It could be a big wish or a small one. What's important is to do something for someone else. And as the bills pass from hand to hand, we hope every recipient along the way will fulfill the wish of someone else. Is it legal to put a sticker on U.S. money? Yes. We checked with the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, which is an agency of the U.S. Treasury. We learned that it is actually the U.S. Secret Service that sets the rules regarding proper uses of currency. Defacing U.S. currency is illegal. But you can place a sticker on money, as long as removal of the sticker does not damage the original note. But we hope you don't remove the sticker!

How many Three Wishes dollars are in circulation? During the week of September 12, 2005, NBC will put over 50,000 of these special bills into circulation. The hope is for the initial recipients to use the dollars to benefit others. And if everyone who subsequently receives the bills, as they pass from hand to hand, uses them to grant the wishes of others, there is a potential for millions of wishes to be realized.”

Jesus said we are each set apart for a special use. Be it in big ways or small ways, we all play a part in making another life meaningful. No matter who, where or when, we all have the ability, even in our diversity to grant a wish. God has given everyone a special heart for something. Some are good listeners, teachers or care givers. Others roll up their sleeves and give practical support. Still others do have the means, as the donors at NBC, to give much needed monetary help. Its important that we recognize where we fit in to help fulfill the important needs of humanity—willingly and unselfishly.

Reference:

1. March 2002 issue of CCM Magazine