The Next Great Reality Television Show: My Five Favorite New Ideas!

I have strange taste in reality television programming. Among my favorites are 'SuperNanny', 'Jon and Kate + Eight', 'Dancing With The Stars' (my mother got me hooked on that one; she lives for that show!), 'Project Runway' and, to a limited extent, the now wildly over the top 'America's Next Top Model'. (Frankly, the only 'top model' that I honestly remember from this competition is the one who married one of the child actors from the Partridge Family or some other '80's show. As a couple, they went on to have their OWN reality show, which was pretty depressing. Gotta be better marriages than that one out there!)

Okay, I'd like to toss some ideas your way, network executives. It's time to take a fresh yet hard new look at some formats and premises for some new reality television programming. Let's see what's not been there, done that.

1. 'Who's Got Game?'. The idea behind this would be to 'test' the skills of five guys to host a new (or greenlighted, or even 'just being considered') game show. Each week, the guys would face a number of weird, off the wall potential contestants in a game show format: ones who would break down and cry on screen, ones who would scream at the host, the middle aged woman who refuses to give answers or particpate, the whiz kid with the smart alec attitude. You'd have five guys (I have no idea why I chose guys only for this one) pitted against a motley crew of slightly demented wannabe game show contestants. They'd be judged on their physical appearance, their composure, their ability to think quickly on their feet, their sense of being able to take charge of a situation that threatens to get wildly out of hand. I'm basing this idea on the (hopefully cancelled) replacement game show called 'Duel', which was hosted by ESPN's Mike Greenberg. Just getting that mental picture of the woefully miscast Greenberg as a game show host still causes a facial tic.

2. 'Cops 'n Robbers'. The line between good and evil/not so good can be mighty thin. A panel of three celebrity/semi celebrity judges faces a panel of three to four people each week. One of them is a decorated, acknowledged hero: a firefighter, police officer, EMT, doctor, anyone who saved a life or prevented harm. On the other hand, one of them just MIGHT be a convicted felon. We're not talking about having Michael Vick guest here; I'm thinking more along the lines of someone who served time for a 'white collar' crime but looks and appears downright angelic. The judge who makes the right call would have a set amount of money - $5,000 perhaps - donated to the charity of his or her choice.

3. 'Two Lips'. A reality crew follows around a girl in her senior year of high school for several months, culminating (hopefully) at her graduation ceremony. Senior year is becoming a time in a young woman's life that is both increasingly tense and yet blissfully focused, depending upon the individual, her circumstances, and actually twists of fate. (Does a parent lose his or her job during the year? Does she get accepted to the college of her choice? Does she get accepted but can't afford to attend? Is there a life-altering decision that's made: to get married right after high school, to enlist in the armed forces, to attend college if that hadn't been a prior option, getting what a girl deems her 'dream job' right out of school.) Part of this show could be 'read' by the girl from a diary or journal; MySpace or Facebook could be another source of insight into what's happening during this crucial time in her life. Why did I choose that title? I just loved the name and play on words.

4. 'Made in America'. A group/groups of bridesmaids vie for the coveted (?!) title of Maid of Honor with the bride. The bride has them make presentations on their plans for wedding showers; they have to display a sense of organization, determination and cheerfulness in the face of just plain bad luck, accidents or unplanned mishaps. Each (a group of four, no more than six maximum) tries to endear herself not just to the bride but to the groom and the bride's immediate family as well. Goofy contests and challenges weed out the faint of heart.

5. 'Reinventing the Wheel'. Three groups are broken up into five-member units. Each group is given a simple, common, ordinary item - a hand held can opener, a trash can, a violin, a bedspread, canned baked beans, a brick, water wings, a bra - and have to come up with three different permutations for the item within a set period of time. The 'new' uses have to be both imaginative and functional, and the results would be judged by a panel.

I'm on a roll here, people! Plenty more where these came from!