Hello 2005!

Simply Sleight/Kari Sleight

There's something almost magical about the turning of a year. As the headlines of the passing year are relegated to another chapter in history, the promise of good things to come in the New Year is cause for celebration. It's a sense of new beginnings, a time to shed the old and embrace the new.

I've never been one to make New Year's resolutions, preferring instead to set goals as warranted throughout the year; not that I think resolutions are without merit, they just don't seem to work for me.

That being said, it would please me to no end if the people responsible for developing new television programs for the major networks would resolve to become more creative. I've always been told, and believe to be true, that there are two types of television programming, entertaining and educational.

Entire networks are developed around news, history, cooking, science, health and entertainment for just about every interest. In one afternoon you can learn how to patch a hole in the wall, how to make Baked Alaska and how to tune up your car. You can then spend the evening winding down watching a good comedy or drama.

The last couple of years, it seems as if every major and some minor networks have all jumped on the reality television bandwagon.

I admit that I have contributed to the high ratings of some of the reality-based programming. I enjoy watching "Survivor," "The Amazing Race" and "The Apprentice."

All three programs pit teams and individuals against each other through a series of challenges in which contestants must use either physical strength or intellect to emerge victorious. All three of these programs provide an entertainment value in my opinion, and, on occasion, provide some educational information.

The success of "Survivor," "The Bachelor" and other high-rated reality television shows has spawned a new crop of shows as the network stations continue to fight for their piece of the ratings prize.

"Temptation Island," "Meet the Parents," "The Real Gilligan's Island," "The Biggest Loser" -- it seems no situation has been exempt from becoming the cornerstone of a reality-based series. However, when I saw the promotional piece for Fox Network's newest reality-based show, I nearly lost my lunch.

"Who's Your Daddy?' brings on an adult woman who was adopted at six weeks of age to see if she can guess who, among eight men, is her birth father. Is this really supposed to be entertainment?

I don't see any possible educational value with this show's premise, so I can only deduce that someone within Fox did one heck of a job in selling the entertainment value of this program to a room full of network executives, or those same executives firmly believe our society has dumbed down enough to find this entertaining.

Even more amazing to me is the network was able to find someone willing to participate in this program. I certainly understand an adopted person wanting to find a birth parent, but not like this.

We've seen this program copycat phenomenon time and again. Several years ago it was situational comedies that were all the rage, followed by police or crime dramas.

Once a network has a hit, television viewers are bombarded with like-scripted shows of varying quality as other networks scramble to get their piece of the pie.

I cringe to think of what the next reality television show will be based on: "Who's Your Organ Donor?" "What's My Crime?" "The Survivalist?"

Since television history has a way of repeating itself, we can only hope that the reality television show phenomenon is close to the end of the line and, as in the past, the best shows will survive while the others, mercifully, find their way to the cancelled program graveyard.

In the meantime, I'll be spending more of my television viewing time watching CNN, The Discovery Channel and PBS.