Who's Your Daddy
For Love of Money and Finding Daddy
Commentary By Alisa
January 4, 2005
We heard about it, we saw the previews, but we didn't really want to believe it. The show called "Who's Your Daddy?" aired on FOX last night and I actually watched all of it. I still don't know what to think.
The entire town of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina did not even have a choice. The local FOX affiliate displayed their moral outrage by not even airing the program and opting for an independently produced special with people telling about their own experience with adoption.
The Girl - T.J. Myers
An attractive young woman who was adopted almost at birth-she was six weeks old-has apparently been on a quest to find her real father and for some inexplicable reason decided to do it on FOX television. The lure of $100,000 prize could have been a major incentive.
Her story is similar to that of many adopted children. She had good parents who treated her well. However, when she was 12 years of age they divorced and that probably threw her into a tizzy. They are not mentioned again for the duration of the show.
The final blow for Ms. Myers occurred at a family reunion when some unfeeling person allegedly said that she wasn't even a member of the family. That's when T.J. snapped. She started making plans to find her real father and get to the bottom of things. Why she waited long enough to have FOX come along and offer her the deal of finding daddy as well as bestowing a big monetary reward on her, remains a bit of a mystery since she claims to have been looking for him all along.
The Men - Eight Prospective Daddies
There was a faintly unhealthy tinge to this part of the show as hostess Finola Hughes tells T.J. that one of the eight men waiting behind that mansion door is her real father and it's up to our girl to sniff out her own flesh and blood.
Need I mention that there were plenty of tears and fears as she embarks on this task? The men, for the most part, did their job convincingly. They all gave their names and each of them assured her that he was her biological father. Then, in a page torn out of "The Bachelor" book of rules, they all get better acquainted over a few cocktails. Is there any other way? She notices that she has stronger feelings about some of the men than others. A bit creepy, no?
The Secret Viewing Room
Now it's time to watch the guys from a secret location on video monitors to see if T.J. can find anything in their behavior that might indicate shared traits. One guy liked chocolate ice-cream just like she did, but ewwwww; he even ate the dreadful maraschino cherry. Another man said that M & Ms were his favorite candies. Well, what do you know? That was her favorite candy too! So much trivia, so little time!
And now she has to cut four of the bachelors, err, I mean prospective fathers, from the herd. If the group of four that T.J. dismisses contains her real dad, then she loses $25,000 from her prize money. However, she does a good job and selects the right foursome.
After another restless night, T.J. had to whittle the group of remaining would-be dads down to two. This was a nail-biter, I can tell you. The suspense was killing me-NOT! However, she fulfills her task and is happy again to hear from Finola that she is right on the money.
She sits the two men down and wants to know "WHY?" and "What happened?" and so on. We now know that one of the guys really knows what he's talking about and the other is doing a great job of bluffing-tears and all.
At the very end, our girl realized that her unfailing intuition has enabled her to pick out the right dad and tearful hugging abounds. As a bonus she meets her three sisters as well as her birth mother who looks like she's been through some rough times since she gave birth to T.J. at the age of 17.
Who Is Up In Arms and Why
Adoption agencies feel that this show is making a mockery out of the entire adoptive process by presenting this show in a game/reality format. Apparently, the subject of adoption is a sacred cow that must not be tampered with under any circumstances. There is even an anti-adoption group which complained that the adoption industry, not FOX, is responsible for the exploitation of adopted people and their families. Go figure.
Frankly, I have found FOX to be daring and yes, at times tasteless, but I was not as offended at this show as I thought I might be. I just wonder why it even aired because it wasn't entertaining or interesting. For true tastelessness, I don't think you can beat their "Playing It Straight" where both gay and straight men competed for "the girl" and it ended up looking more like a witch hunt where men outed each other. Even FOX realized the error of their ways and pulled the show after a few episodes.
Last night's episode was billed as a Special, even though FOX has six shows ready to air. However, they have not yet announced when they would do so. Since the ratings were dismal, we might not ever get to see another one. I would not be too upset about that. I would rather that they bring back "Forever Eden." They still have 18 episodes that haven't been shown. Or better yet, "Paradise Hotel."
Alisa loves the Ocean, granola and winemaking. When not busy with that, writing is her biggest thrill, well almost. She can be reached at california_girl100@yahoo.com
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