My parents gave us money towards our down payment. We were more than capable of paying the mortgage (and then some), but in order to put 20% down in this area, we had to have nearly $100k saved up. It ended up being that they gave us a little less than half the down payment. I was, however, extremely grateful for it. It was not something I expected, or even asked for--they offered, Zach and I took a long time to discuss it, and we gratefully accepted. We tried to start paying it back in addition to mortgage premiums, but my dad declined.
I think that helping us out financially is my dad's way of saying, "I love you and I'm proud of the choices you're making." He is not one to offer advice or tell me he loves me--he likes to send me frequent flier miles so I can visit for my mom's birthday, and he helped us buy the house because he saw it as a smart financial move when our rent was over $2k/month.
I think also it was his way of making things "fair" with my sister. She lived at home rent-free, eating their food and driving their cars for 4 years after graduation. I never complained that she got free insurance or groceries, but I think it made my dad uncomfortable that they were giving so much to my sister and not to me. This was his way of evening things out.
I haven't seen the show though...I'm sure it's lovely trash television