In my opinion reality shows are crap. All of them. I can’t STAND to watch a bunch of money-hungry dim-witted selfish opportunists willing to bump off their fellow man for the grand prize. But now NBC has challenged my opinion with their new tv show coming this fall called “Baby Borrowers“, The concept of the show begins with a teenage couple who think they’re ready for the world. The show puts them in their own house and gives them a baby to take care of day and night. And just when they figure out the rhythm of nighttime feedings and daytime bathing and all the crying, that cute little newborn gets replaced with a hands in everything toddler! Now it’s mess making, and chasing them all over the house. They eventually graduate out of the kiddie park and land right in tweener hell as their laughing, cheerio throwing toddler is swapped out for a moody, unpredictably hormonal pre-teen. Follow that with a teenager much like themselves who is clawing at the walls for independence, and then finish them off taking care of senior citizens and you’ve got yourself a recipe for the best birth control I’ve ever seen! I love the concept of this show and think it will see great results for the kids that are on it. As a form of entertainment… well… it could be worse. They could be eating roaches and walking high wires for a fat check.

As a long-time fan of the original TAPS Ghost Hunters, I was extremely excited about the premier of the new GHI or Ghost Hunters International on SciFi. Now, a few episodes in I’m finding myself more and more frustrated with it. First, you should know that Wednesday nights have pretty much become “family night” as we pop the corn, turn out the lights, and crowd the couches to watch the paranormal investigation unfold. We were thrilled when the original Ghost Hunters from TAPS visited the Lisheeen Castle in Ireland, got followed by wraiths, and visited the Hellfire Caves. The idea of a Ghost Hunters International crew going into old country for a whole season was something we looked forward to all summer. Now the time has come and the season has started.

The first thing we notice is (and I hate to admit this) is lead investigator, Robb Demarest’s overall presence. His stuttering, and Groucho Marks eyebrows make it very difficult to take him seriously, or to find him as a convincing authority. Donna LaCroix is a wonderful case manager, and always a welcome sight on the show, however it seems that each episode of GHI (Ghost Hunters International) finds her getting too scared, creeped out or otherwise emotional. This actually seems to reduce the credibility of the show. The fact that she is most often paired with the newest of the crew, Shannon Sylvia, just seems like a poor decision. There have also been a few cases already where it seems that they are not prepared… the running theme so far has been “oh no my camera (or digital recorder, or thermal camera) just went dead. I understand this could be a symbol of paranormal activity draining the energy from the batteries, but at three locations in a row?

Overall, I would love to see Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson show up for an episode or two to really put the science back into the investigations and help this new crew work out their kinks. I stuck with Ghost Hunters (TAPS - The Atlantic Paranormal Society) when they were just two guys in a Roto Rooter van and the loyalty paid off well. So I will continue to follow the (GHI) Ghost Hunters International crew as well, and trust that they will come around by the end of the season. Maybe if I’m lucky they’ll get an earlier time slot!