THE NEW REALITY AS MORE UNSCRIPTED TV SEEPS INTO THEIR SCHEDULES, NETWORKS WALK A FINE LINE BETWEEN BAD TASTE AND BOFFO RATINGS.

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

Network executives say they'd be happy to be rid of it. Still it mutates across the airwaves like a disease, growing nastier in its new forms.

Ever more entrenched in the schedule, there will soon be an entire cable network devoted to it. Reality Central debuts in the fall.

For a phenomenon that started just four years ago, reality programming now dominates broadcast television. This week alone, 10 shows (some repeated several times) swallow up 18 hours of prime-time network programming. And this is a slow week. The NCAA basketball tournament play has pushed other reality shows temporarily off the schedule.

Last year NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker hinted that he scheduled a glut of summer reality programming in order to tire out the genre. Far from it. The network is now tied to it, airing three, sometimes four, hours of reality programming a week, the most successful of which - Donald Trump's cutthroat-business melodrama ``The Apprentice'' - airs on the network's once-hallowed Thursday nights.

Hardly a fan, outgoing WB CEO Jamie Kellner compares reality TV to dating.

``You can get in, watch, and get out and just flip around, where really getting involved in series television is more like marriage. ... If you train the audience to be more fickle, to look for short-term hits - eventually, you'll pay a price for that.''

Nonetheless, The WB recently aired the finale of ``The Surreal Life'' and has two more reality series beginning.

Inevitably, controversy continues to find its way into RTV.

``Big Brother,'' returning to CBS for a fifth series this summer, is referred to by CBS CEO Les Moonves as a ``social experiment.'' It has featured live Internet sex, a male participant taking a knife to the throat of a female counterpart, voracious alcohol consumption and a near-mutiny by its cast.

Moonves has lately raised more ire with two projects, one tentatively titled ``The Real Beverly Hillbillies,'' which would transpose a rural family to elitist surroundings for fun and laughs, and, more recently, a UPN series called ``Amish in the City,'' based on the Amish ritual of ``rumspringa'' (``running around''), in which teenagers explore life outside their faith. ``The Real Beverly Hillbillies'' has been shelved, but no decision has been made on ``Amish in the City.''

``This 'social experiment,' as Mr. Moonves calls it, can only serve to take advantage of vulnerable young people at a time when they are making decisions about their faith that will affect the rest of their lives,'' Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Pitts told the Washington Post.

While reality TV has been around for years in documentary form with shows like Fox's ``Cops,'' which began in 1989, it was in 2000 that CBS' ``Survivor'' took it to another level, making stars out of its contest participants. Soon after, reality shows like ``Temptation Island'' were flooding the airwaves.

``The issue here lies partly in programmers' desire to keep RTV 'fresh' - and of course controversial,'' notes Deborah Jermyn, co-editor of the book ``Understanding Reality Television.'' ``When RTV took off at the start of the 2000s, there was a sense that it was trying to push TV's boundaries. These latest shows suggest that programmers sense many formats have now become familiar to audiences and lost their edginess - hence, a need to push boundaries further still.

``Since its inception, RTV has been accused of being voyeuristic, sensationalistic and exploitative, but in the early days, some program-makers argued that these programs had a kind of educational function in the way they explored psychology, group dynamics, etc. Inevitably, these newer programs are becoming increasingly removed from these loftier, 'serious' intentions.''

Meanwhile, Fox has taken hits for its latest contributions. ``My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance'' featured a series-long cruel prank on a participant's family members who didn't even sign up to be on a reality series. ``The Littlest Groom,'' a, well, short-lived dating series featuring midgets and dwarves, encouraged The New York Times editorial page to enthuse that it ``may mark an exploitative new low in television programming.''

Randi Coy, the woman who dragged her family into ``Fiance,'' dismissed her contribution as ``just an ultimate practical joke, that's what it was. I was like, 'Hey, if I can pull this off, this one's going to be the best one ever.' '' When it turned out that she was also being duped, Coy changed her tune.

``I'm digesting it,'' she said. ``I don't know if it's mean, but I definitely have some resentment. ... (My parents) are digesting as well. They're relieved it's over, but, you know, only time will tell to see what really happens at the end. I got some reactions that I didn't anticipate from my family.''

As for Steven Bailey, the actor who played the lout Coy told her family she intended to wed, ``I certainly felt guilty at the time, but - I didn't feel as bad about it as you might imagine.''

Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman defended her programming. ``There is a point where things go too far. I don't think it is in this program. The judgment call is a difficult one. It gets murkier and murkier. That said, I know when we can't do something. I've know it for, now, 3 1/2 years. It's easy to know when it comes across your transom and you can't do it. You have to walk gently through some of the more challenging shows to make sure that always the audience is protected, the contestants are protected.''

Berman acknowledged that while shows like ``Fiance'' are instant hits, acclaimed series like Fox's ``Arrested Development'' struggle to lure viewers.

``We understand that there's a certain kind of thing that an audience will immediately respond to, and then there's a more thoughtful thing that takes and requires more time for anyone to get,'' she mused. ``If I found it profoundly sad, I wouldn't continue to make (reality shows). It is the way it is.''

Jermyn observes, ``It's not clear where 'the line' lies, or indeed whether there is one, since we move it every time a new and controversial format comes along.''

Karen Miller, senior vice president of programming and marketing for the upcoming Reality Central network, notes that the genre's evolution is ``interesting from a sociological standpoint. I grew up with the modern stand-up formula of observational humor, where comics talk about life around them and tell stories. In a way, that's where reality has gone - we've evolved and are using humor in new ways. Is it mean-spirited? Some people could interpret it that way. Is it funny? Most of the time, not always. It depends on the perspective.''

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

The real deals

Of upcoming reality series, the one most likely to inspire accusations of tastelessness is CBS' ``The Will,'' in which members of a family vie for the inheritance of a still-kicking patriarch or matriarch. Here are some other reality shows that have just arrived or are on the way:

RECENTLY PREMIERED

``High School Reunion'': Former classmates reunite. 9 p.m. Sundays, The WB.

``Playing It Straight'': A woman must divine which of her suitors are straight and which are gay interlopers. 8 p.m. Fridays, Fox.

``Forever Eden'': Unlike other reality shows, this is designed as an open- ended affair in which participants tryst while competing to stay on the show as long as possible. 9 p.m. Mondays, Fox.

``Average Joe: Adam Returns'': The broken-hearted loser from the last series gets his chance to win over the ladies. 10 p.m. Mondays, NBC.

ARRIVING THIS SPRING

``The Swan'': Essentially ABC's ''Extreme Makeover'' with a beauty pageant for the participants. 9 p.m. March 29, Fox.

ARRIVING THIS SUMMER

``The Simple Life 2'': Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie pack their bags again, this time for a cross-country road trip. (Fox)

``The Restaurant 2'': A second serving of chef Rocco DiSpirito's New York eatery. (NBC)

``Amazing Race 5'': Twelve teams race around the world for a cash prize - again. (CBS)

``Big Brother 5'': Twelve strangers live together in a house outfitted with cameras. (CBS)

``The Casino'': A behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Premieres June 8. (Fox)

UNSCHEDULED

``The Will'': The kids get to show their greed. (CBS)

``Big Man on Campus'': A collegiate dating show. (WB)

``The One That Got Away'': A participant has the chance to rekindle romance with ex-lovers. (NBC)

``The Contender'': Follows boxers from training camp to a series of fights. Sugar Ray Leonard will be a commentator and Sylvester Stallone is an executive producer. (NBC)

- Daily News

CAPTION(S):

8 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) ``THE LITTLEST GROOM''

(2 -- cover -- color) ``FOREVER EDEN''

(3 -- cover -- color) ``MY BIG FAT OBNOXIOUS FIANCE''

(4 -- cover -- color) ``THE SIMPLE LIFE 2''

(5) ``The Apprentice,'' in which real-estate magnate Donald Trump puts a group of job seekers through their paces, has been a big hit on NBC's Thursday-night lineup.

(6) Porn legend Ron Jeremy and former televangelist Tammy Faye Messner open up to Sally Jessy Raphael on the season finale of The WB's ``The Surreal Life.''

(7) The wedding between Steven Bailey and Randi Coy turned out to be a prank on Fox's ``My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance.''

(8) The WB's ``High School Reunion'' brings together 17 former classmates from Oak Park, Ill., for a two-week stay on Maui.

Box:

The real deals (see text)