The Remote Island

Remember Joe Millionaire, y'all?  That dopey, blue-collar construction worker that posed as a jet-setting millionaire and had us all asking the question, "Would you still love me if I were poor?"  Now Fox is ordering up a new show that has us asking, "Would you still love me if I was unattractive?"  To which the auditioning contestants reply, "You mean you think we're unattractive?"     

This can't be a good idea, can it?  

"For six years it's been skinny-minis and good-looking bachelors, and that's not what the dating world looks like," Fox president of alternative Mike Darnell said. "Why don't real women -- the women who watch these shows, for the most part -- have a chance to find love too?"

The project has a similar format to "The Bachelor," where a group of woman compete for one man (producers describe him as a "Kevin James-type"). It marks the first time Darnell and Fleiss have teamed for a series in about nine years. The duo's previous dating show was the controversial, groundbreaking 2000 special "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" which set the format template for ABC's "Bachelor" and a legion of imitators.

"More to Love" was inspired by the recent ratings success of "Bachelor" and the popularity of NBC's "The Biggest Loser," which Darnell credits with shattering an industry assumption that TV viewers only wanted to watch highly attractive people. (Hollywood Reporter)

Okay, we appreciate the effort to put people of all shapes and sizes on TV.  We do.  But, is putting a group of people on a reality show and publicizing it as a show with fat/unattractive/normal-sized contestants the way to go?  Isn't that just a spectacle waiting to happen (Littlest Groom, anyone)?

Previously:

Stay Classyfied: MTV Wants To Give YOU a Shot At Love

Awkward Tuesday: Is The Bachelor Fixed, Fact or Fiction?

The Biggest Loser Isn't a TV Show; It's a Lifestyle