By B.C. MANION
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - The show had a bit of everything: comedy, tragedy, a happy ending. Oh, and the Tate family of Davis Islands.

The five Tates were there, at the center of the pumped crowd enjoying a private screening of a premiere episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” at Tampa Theatre.

It was the old cult fan flick “Rocky Horror Picture Show” - where audience members become part of the show - meets network TV.

This episode told the story of Tom and Cynthia Tate and their three children, Ryan, 21, Tommy, 15 and Loren, 11. And how they lost their home in a freak, tragic airplane crash June 12.

But it went beyond their loss. It peeked into their lives as a part of a tight-knit community and as a family - and what it meant to lose all that.

At times, the program had Cynthia laughing. At other times, crying. And sometimes, like many in the crowd, she was cheering.

WCI Communities, which built the Tates’ 3,400-square-foot home, held the screening to celebrate with the family and thank its crews and subcontractors for their work.

It was a posh affair, complete with Cuban sandwich spring rolls, seaweed and squid salad, skewers of vegetables, chicken and beef - all on buffets laden with food.

Before the episode, WFTS, ABC Action News did a live, one-hour broadcast from the theater. That got the audience revved for the main event. Not that it took any revving. When a reporter revealed that Ryan’s room had a University of Florida Gators theme, Ryan responded by doing the Gator chomp. That got the crowd chomping.

WCI employees appeared, and the crowd cheered. A familiar sight flickered up; more noise. A Tate did something funny; big laughs.

A few minutes into the program, the screen went blank. Groans. Someone had unplugged a cord. Juice restored, the party resumed.

Toward the end and the big “reveal,” the fans in plush seats joined those watching from the street three months ago in chanting “Move that bus.” Finally, the show’s signature bus, blocking the view of the Tates’ new home, rolled away.

Though showing the house and its contents in ruin, the program also had bright spots: a music video Loren’s friends made for her, Ryan’s reaction when he got a new truck, Tommy’s thrill at the sight of lockers salvaged from the fire.

The show covered every emotion for Cynthia, but after the screening, she said, the best thing of all was this: “We got to experience it with the people we love.”

Reporter B.C. Manion can be reached at (813) 259-7150.

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