Wishes do come true.

At least they do for the residents of the small towns visited by the cast of NBC's new series Three Wishes.

On the pilot episode, airing tonight, the Hollywood crew, led by contemporary Christian music star Amy Grant, sets out on a mission to change the lives of individuals, families and even entire cities.

Equipped with a sack of cash from the network, the group grants wishes to a mother who prays for facial reconstructive surgery for her little girl, an ill high school coach who wishes for a new football field and a boy who desperately wants his stepfather to adopt him.

In the end, as in every syrupy sweet reality TV show, everyone is happy and everyone cries.

"The very idea to me sounded too good to be true," says Grant.

"Inviting people to say what they wished for ... and then using network and sponsorship dollars to meet those needs, I just thought, 'Somebody pinch me. You've got to be kidding?'"

No joke. The hopes and dreams of many deserving people in towns all across the U.S. are coming true thanks to the inspiring and highly emotional unscripted series. Grant says working on such a heart-warming show is incredibly rewarding, but sometimes the stories get to her.

"Last night I had a complete fall out. I was talking to a women who is watching her husband die of a brain tumour ... and I just threw my hands up in front of the camera and said 'I can not take this,'" she says.

"I just wept. It's not about a TV show, for me, it's about life."

That's why the reality series is now jumping into the nationwide relief effort for the victims of hurricane Katrina.

Executive producer Andrew Glassman and the show's camera crew visited a Houston shelter last week to tell a New Orleans family they were getting a new home.

"There isn't enough help practically in the world to correct what's happened here.

"But if we take it one case at a time, one family at a time, I think that's the only way we can really make a difference."

The one-hour pilot of Three Wishes, featuring Grant, Carter Oosterhouse (Trading Spaces), Eric Stromer (Clean Sweep) and Diane Mizota (Trading Spaces), airs on Citytv at 8 p.m. and on NBC at 10 p.m. tonight.