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Fox unveils paternity gameshow Just as viewers thought that reality TV couldn't get any more tasteless, after plastic surgery, live enemas, impregnation races and surprise transsexuals, along comes Fox with a format that pushes the taste envelope just a little bit further. After much industry speculation, rumours and leaks about Fox's potentially litigious new paternity test format, the network has finally unveiled plans for the reality event, titled Who's Your Daddy? The show, which will air as a 90-minute special on January 3, centres on an adopted woman, keen to find the identity of her parents, particularly her father. In a glitzy studio setting, she is presented with eight possible fathers - one of which is her real dad - and must eliminate seven of them through Q&A and other means. If after three elimination rounds she correctly identifies her true father she gets $100k; if one of the seven fake dads gets through to the final round, the imposter gets to keep the purse.  The format has been devised by Fox Television Studios, and is the first primetime property to emerge from the division since the arrival of new president Angela Shapiro-Mathes. Ken Mok (America's Next Top Model) is exec producing alongside Scare Tactics duo, Scott Hallock and Kevin Healy. On top of the January one-off, a further seven episodes have been ordered, to air later in the year. Though Fox's reality wunderkind, evp of alternate programming Mike Darnell, is billing the show as a tear-jerking rollercoaster ride of emotion, the format is seen by some as something of a legal hot potato, especially in the over-litigious US. The adopted woman, for instance, might claim emotional trauma from becoming attached to one of the supposed dads or by having the identity of the real dad withheld during the show. The format continues Darnell's long-standing love of shock-reality shows, having previously devised Seriously Dude I'm Gay (axed after GLAAD pressure), Playing It Straight (gay guys passing themselves off as straight), Temptation Island, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance and Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire. Rumours of Fox's Who's Your Daddy format first appeared at the Monte Carlo TV Festival back in July. Later that month NBC-Universal Television group president Jeff Zucker - then sore about The Contender being pipped by Fox's Next Great Champ - slammed Who's Your Daddy during the Television Critics Association press tour, despite the fact that Fox hadn't even announced the show. "I think it's not right what they are doing, and frankly they should be called on it," Zucker told reporters. Never mind the fact that LMNO Productions has long been developing its own take on the paternity test format, Extreme Reunions, for Zucker's network. Ed Waller 14 Dec 2004 © C21 Media 2004 
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