News Article

The ClubHouse: Temptation Island: News Article

Sandyc

Wednesday, January 10, 2001 - 09:34 am Click here to edit this post

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Fox television network dropped an unmarried couple from its reality show Temptation Island after learning the pair had a child.

Fox and show producer Rocket Science Laboratories had decreed that no married couples or those with children could take part in the show, which places unmarried couples on an island with sexy men and women to test their fidelity. But the couple "misrepresented information about their background - specifically, the fact that they had a child together," Fox said in a statement Tuesday.

Background checks also failed to discover the information, the network said.

After the discovery, the reality show ended the pair's participation, Fox said. It did not identify the couple.

The show debuts Wednesday.

Fox's statement was issued after WorldNetDaily reported the parents' inclusion in Temptation Island on Tuesday. The Internet news site said the couple were removed from the show after about five days of shooting, sent to another island resort and given therapy.

The announcement brought further condemnation to a show previously attacked by some critics as an assault on fidelity.

"Now this brings into the picture someone who's completely innocent, a child," Mark Honig, executive director of the watchdog group Parents Television Council, said Tuesday.

Fox has been embarrassed before by the background of a reality show contestant. Last spring, it turned out that Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire? groom Rick Rockwell had a restraining order issued against him by an ex-fiancee. His television bride, Darva Conger, later dumped him.


© The Canadian Press, 2001

Writehand

Wednesday, January 10, 2001 - 03:31 pm Click here to edit this post

just so you know, this article comes from a right wing webpaper. check out the rest of their site... some articles are really frightening.

as to the validity of the article, i'm taking it with a grain of salt. i want to watch the show and see what happens myself.

Enbwife

Wednesday, January 10, 2001 - 04:09 pm Click here to edit this post

On ET tonight, they said one of the couples have a child together and that's against the rules. They get the boot on the third episode!

Egbok77

Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 07:50 pm Click here to edit this post

I don't know the couples names yet, but a co-worker said it was the girl with the shoulder length blond hair and her boyfriend. I guess we'll find out soon . . .

Guruchaz

Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 08:00 pm Click here to edit this post

Face it. Right-wing isn't always wrong, Writehand.

Max

Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 08:39 pm Click here to edit this post

No, no, no! This is an area for talk of sex, morality, and scandals, not politics. Oh, wait! I forgot that there isn't much of a difference anymore. Nevermind.

Enbwife

Saturday, January 13, 2001 - 05:25 pm Click here to edit this post

Ottawa Sun article:

In other realtiy news, an embarrassment for Fox which admitted that it booted two contestants off Temptation Island during taping this fall because they lied about being parents. The show, which premiered Wednesday, places four unmarried couples on an island, where they go on dates with people to see if they cheat. According to the show's rules, couples with kids are not allowed.

Enbwife

Monday, January 15, 2001 - 04:26 pm Click here to edit this post

ET gave a preview of Wednesday night's show. The girls tell the single guys that one or two may get kicked off the island the next day, so they will have to individually convince the girls why they should stay. Also, it has been confirmed that the baby news is announced on the TV show, and the black couple are kicked off the show publicly.

Lancecrossfire

Tuesday, January 16, 2001 - 12:18 am Click here to edit this post

Enb mentioned the concept of cheating per the rules of the show. Count one of the four couples as cheaters.

Max

Wednesday, February 07, 2001 - 04:07 pm Click here to edit this post

Following is an article from Yahoo News today:

Fox Succumbs to Sweeps "Temptation"

It's more tempting than 26 virile single folk cavorting on a tropical island.

It's February sweeps, and Fox has decided to extend its controversial, pseudo-salacious hit series Temptation Island through most of February sweeps to capitalize on the show's ratings power.

Now that an average 17.1 million viewers have tuned in to watch couples test their monogamy with a series of scantily clad singles, Fox will expand the series from six episodes to seven--rescheduling the finale to air February 28, the last day of sweeps.

The finale will feature the couples' last bonfire, in which the pairs will converge to "share what they have learned about themselves" during their two-week scam-a-thon, and decide whether to stay together or rip apart their solid, trusting, stable relationships.

Producers will presumably recut the series to include a sixth episode airing February 21, the original date scheduled for the finale. (The show will be preempted February 14 for Temptation Streisand...er, Barbra Streisand: Timeless, a two-hour concert special.)

Network sources also say there were talks about whether to set up a full-fledged Temptation Island reunion--during which viewers would get updates about how the four couples fared after their tropical vacation. But so far, there's been no official word on whether that will happen.

Milking Temptation Island during sweeps (the monthly periods when networks schedule stunt programming to boost ad rates) seemed a no-brainer. Initially, Fox raised some eyebrows by debuting Temptation Island in January--a sign that perhaps the suits weren't confident enough to schedule an untested reality series during sweeps in the first place.

Of course, there was no need to worry. We eat this trash up. Temptation Island has been a huge hit for the network since its January 10 premiere, averaging 17.1 million viewers (11.1 rating/16 share in households) and scoring especially strong numbers with young adults.

Temptation has been beaten by first-run episodes of NBC's Emmy-winning political drama The West Wing, but viewers have been skipping the reruns to catch up on the latest fondling over on Fox. Last week, Temptation scored an 11.5 rating and 17 share to land in 12th place for the week, while a rerun of The West Wing pulled in a 9.3/14 to place 31st.

Meanwhile, it appears some of the Temptation Island couples are working to hang onto their 15 minutes. Taheed Watson--who, along with Ytossie Patterson, was booted from Temptation Island after it was discovered the pair had a child together--has just signed on to play a gang member on the syndicated crime series, Arrest & Trial.

His baby's mama must be pleased.