Reality TV Ups the Ick Ante

By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

When it comes to reality TV, it’s hard to tell when a new low has been achieved.

After all, Fox’s “Cops” (now in its 18th season) has shown law officers tangling with assorted lowlifes: drunks, wife-beaters, psychos, crack heads, and various mullet-wearing, toothless criminals.

Since 2001, NBC’s “Fear Factor” has broadcast gag-producing stunts -- forcing contestants to eat pureed insects and even live snails.

And this year, the Discovery Channel launched “Dirty Jobs.” High on the TMI (too much information) scale was the episode showing host Mike Rowe inseminating a mare.

But “Big Brother” producer John de Mol may have set the bar higher or lower – depending your perspective. He is planning "I Want Your Child ... and Nothing Else!" The series will focus on a woman’s search for a sperm donor. The show will be shown in the Netherlands on De Mol’s new Talpa network. I send regrets to our Dutch friends.

I’m as guilty as the next person. I have watched “The Osbournes,” “Family Plots,” “The Anna Nicole Show,” “Brat Camp,” “Intervention,” “Celebrity Fit Club,” “Nanny 911” – and innumerable crime documentaries. But where are our morals when we watch people degrade and expose themselves – all for a little fame and cash? Sometimes, it’s too much for me and I switch channels. But I admit it’s harder to trigger my ick response.

To read Reuters story about De Mol, click below:

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