2002 TELEVISION: SLICE OF LIFE IT'S NOT A FAD: REALITY TV EXPLODES.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

Just sit tight, they said. This, too, shall pass.

Pop culture pundits who looked to the slimming ratings of ``Survivor'' sequels and the mediocre performance of ``The Mole'' and ``Chains of Love'' predicted that reality television was not long for this world.

Instead, reality became a programming epidemic in 2002, infecting cable and broadcast prime time with its can't-miss combination of low budgets and high ratings.

The biggest splashes of the past year were made by ``The Osbournes'' on MTV, ``The Bachelor'' on ABC, ``American Idol'' on Fox and ``Fear Factor'' on NBC. All have become appointment television for their viewers.

``The Osbournes'' launched in March as a larkish attempt to meld ``Ozzie and Harriet'' with Ozzy and Sharon. Now in its second season, the fly-on-the-wall series about the rock star, his manager-wife and their quirky teenagers is a water-cooler show, even as it gets serious with Sharon's cancer treatment.

``The Bachelor,'' with two rounds already aired, expanded the ``Dating Game'' process-of-elimination formula as an eligible hunk sifted through 25 single women to find his Ms. Right with whom he would share his life, or his vacation condo for a couple of hot weekends, or his 15 minutes in the media spotlight.

``American Idol'' owes its origins to Ted Mack's ``Amateur Hour'' and its success to Americans' passion for fame and our snarly certainty that we (or one of our loved ones) could do better than some of those no-talent schnooks. In addition to granting a recording contract to Kelly Clarkson, the summer series made judge Simon Cowell legendary for his self-esteem-gutting putdowns.

``Fear Factor,'' an apparent descendant of humiliating Japanese game shows, challenged contestants to devour something disgusting and to suppress their instinctive fears of height, fire, drowning and other threats to life and limb in exchange for prize money. The show got off to a slow start but gained steam after NBC started emphasizing the gross-out segment in promotions.

What the shows have in common is the dearth of professional performers and writers on staff. Maybe there was a Writers Guild member behind the concept or a Screen Actors Guild member as host, but for the most part reality producers have slashed the two most pricey budget lines facing comedy and drama series. The only financial downside to reality shows is their minimal returns for reruns.

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(color) Kelly Clarkson sings ``A Moment Like This'' after winning in the final episode of Fox's ``American Idol.''