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By Mike Thompson

My first column of last semester dealt with Survivor, last summer’s breakout hit. The show spawned several similar-themed reality shows. The most controversial of these shows, Temptation Island, debuted last month on FOX. Critics are calling the show immoral and advertisers are starting to pull their sponsorship of the show. Many people think that television has sunk to a new low, in terms of moral standards. However, lost in all these rants about the show is the fact that Temptation Island is dull. Immoral or not (and I say it’s not), I’d watch the show if it were enjoyable to watch. But, unfortunately, once you get past the premise of Temptation Island, the show itself becomes very tedious.

Temptation Island started generating controversy before a segment of it was even taped. The very premise of the show itself is what got all these media watchdogs up in arms. On Temptation Island, four unmarried couples arrive at a remote Caribbean island. The couples are then separated from each other and placed on opposite ends of the island. On one end of the island, the four women are courted by 13 attractive and fun-loving men. On the other end, the four men are courted by 13 attractive and fun-loving women. For two weeks, the couples get to experience single life again. After two weeks, the couples are reunited, and they decide if they want to stay with their respective mates, or if they want to become single again.

As you can tell from the premise, this ain’t exactly the kind of show you’d see on the Family Channel. However, I find it difficult to believe that this show is as morally depraved as the Joe Lieberman-types would like you to believe. You cannot ignore the fact that the couples knew exactly what they were getting into. It’s not like these were eight innocents, placed on a tropical island to have fun with their sweetie-pie. No, these people knew going in that they’d be risking their relationship so that they could on national television and gallivant around with a bunch of sexy singles. So this "babe in the woods" routine doesn’t fly with me.

As I stated, there are four couples on the island. And they are: Billy and Mandy, who have been together a year and a half; Kaya and Valerie, who have also been together a year and a half; Andy and Shannon, who have been together for five years; and Taheed and Ytossie, who have been together five and a half years. By the time you read this, Taheed and Ytossie will no longer be on the show. The couple hid from the producers of the show the fact that they have a child together. Once the producers found this out, they immediately banished the two from the island, since any couples participating have to be childless.

The shallow, slutty factor of each of the eight people on the island is off the charts sometimes. Shannon declares that there might be trouble between her and Andy in the future because Andy doesn’t have as much money as she would like him to have. Ytossie says of the 13 single guys placed on the island to tempt her, "I can be faithful, but when they’re throwing themselves at you, it’s tough to resist." And then there’s Mandy, who says, "This whole experience is the opportunity of a lifetime, because when and where else can you ever have the chance to be in an environment with 13 single guys who have been chosen for you?" Again, these people definitely know what they’re getting themselves into. It’s tough to feel sorry for them.

Beyond being shallow and slutty, Mandy is also the most hypocritical of the bunch. At the end of each episode the couples get to see video of their significant other on his/her date, or they can simply hear the person’s date talking about their experience. In one episode, Mandy watched as Billy’s date said that she had a wonderful time with him. Mandy immediately began to cry, saying that she didn’t want Billy having a great time with other girls; she wanted him having a terrible time. Kinda sweet, right?

Think again. Immediately after saying that, Mandy retreated to the singles bar and had a great time with the single guys. In fact, she got pretty intense with one of the guys, and they locked lips passionately at one point. Mandy then said, "This is who I am. If Billy can’t love me for exploring myself, then we shouldn’t be together." So I guess Mandy is saying that Billy should do as she says, not as she does.

Now, the aforementioned screenings of videos is the most interesting part of Temptation Island. The rest of the show, depicting the couples going on dates with the singles, and going to singles bars, dance clubs, etc., is just boring. Since this is network TV, not too much in the way of sex can be shown, so watching the dating and the dancing and whatnot gets very old. If I wanted to see shallow, slutty guys and girls get it on with hot singles, I’d go to McCoy’s.

So, yes, while the video screenings themselves are interesting, there’s just not enough in the rest of the show for me to recommend it. I might tune in at the end to see some of these videos, but it’s likely that by the time the end of the episode rolls around, I’ll already be engrossed in another show. By and large, Temptation Island is just a waste of time. The show airs Wednesday nights at 9 PM on FOX, which is located both at Channel 5 and Channel 23 here at Marist.