When TLC premiered the first episode of Extreme Couponing in 2011, coupon shoppers around the country took to the web to voice their concerns about the rampant coupon misuse and fraud depicted on the show. It was revealed that the show’s shoppers admitted to using coupons for products they didn’t buy and used hundreds of coupons that were limited to one to four coupons per transaction. Unfortunately, stores played along, agreeing to double coupons just for the show. Coupon bloggers quickly pointed out how TLC was misleading the public about how couponing works. What the show didn’t share was the fact that once the counterfeit coupons reached the manufacturer, payment to the store was denied. There are a lot of questions, like where did the counterfeit coupons come from, and why would any honest couponer want to cheat the system? After the big fallout on the authenticity of the program, TLC continued the program for five seasons, although viewer interest dropped off. The last episode appeared during the Thanksgiving 2015 season on TLC's Discovery Family network with a new title, Greatest Givers: Extreme Couponing, which focused on the good deeds done by some of the previously profiled couponers. Currently, there are no plans to bring the show back.
