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Dade City should say no to TV show© St. Petersburg Times published January 22, 2003 Does Dade City really want to be a part of this? All You Need is Love, American Idol, Bachelorettes in Alaska, Boot Camp, Celebrity Boxing, The Chamber, Exhausted, Invasion of the Hidden Cameras, I Want a Divorce, Joe Millionaire, Krypton Factor, Love Cruise, Married by America, Meet the Marks, Murder in Small Town X, Search for a Playboy Centerfold, Second Chance, Sexiest Bachelor Contest, Star Chamber, Temptation Island, Thirty Seconds to Fame, Wanted, and Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? The cheap, exploitative offerings are the Fox network's contributions to reality television, some of which have yet to hit the airwaves, according to a list compiled by RealityTVLinks.com. Dade City, the Pasco County seat, is under consideration as a setting for yet another Fox show, The Simple Life, in which celebrities' female offspring must learn to work on a farm and live in a small town. Sounds like a youthful version of Green Acres to us -- with 21-year-old daughters of B-list celebrities replacing Eva Gabor's character, Mrs. Douglas. When is the casting call for Arnold the pig? The network that brought you Joey Buttafucco pounding Chyna -- a former wrestling siren -- gave 15 minutes of fame to Rick Rockwell and Darva Conger (20 minutes actually because Conger also appeared on Celebrity Boxing II), and humiliated talent-challenged singers on American Idol could focus on Dade City as a real-life Hooterville. A production company representative is scheduled to be in town next week to interview potential host families with the desirable makeup of a 21-year-old son, no doubt to spark a romantic interest for the protagonists, and a 15-year-old daughter. Better yet, instead of portraying clueless 20-somethings trying to milk a cow or run a merchant's cash register, the whole production company should spend some time in Tommytown, learning about farm workers' back-breaking efforts to squeeze out a daily existence. Simple life doesn't always translate to an easy life. Dade City is far from perfect. There are substantial pockets of poverty. Some residential streets remain unpaved. The employment outlook has been dim since layoffs at the Pasco Beverage plant. Still, a year ago, a Houston-based publisher rated Dade City as one of the top 100 places in America for retirees to settle. The strong attributes include a populace sincere about historic preservation, a vibrant downtown, race relations, economic opportunities, public safety and its beloved oak trees. It is host to the Pasco County Fair, the upcoming Kumquat Festival, bicycle and steeplechase events, Church Street Christmas and numerous other civic celebrations. Deceit and duplicity, the traits associated most commonly with reality television, are conspicuous in their absence from Dade City's notable characteristics. Why let outsiders try to add them now?
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