Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 22

CULTURE EDMONTON JOURNAL C2 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2005 For Bice, the show must go on broken foot and all TVs new reality: feel-good stories are in, humiliation is out Nobody gets stabbed in the back in new crop of unscripted shows The Associated Press NEW YORK For Bo Bice, it's the shoes. The American Idol finalist broke his foot Sunday night performing in Manchester, N.H. and says his misfortune is due to a change in footwear. "There's a part where I go running across the stage and do these jump-ups and flip around in circles and normally I wear cowboy boots, but about three or four shows ago, they started sliding on me," Bice told MTV News. "I was worried I was gonna trip and fall and hurt myself, so I changed to tennis shoes and they got a lot better grip, too good of a grip." He said he landed awkwardly and felt a snap: "I tried to stand back up and just collapsed.

I thought, 'Something's not good Bice was singingDon't WanttoBe, his first song of the American Idols Live! concert when he slipped. He managed to finish the tune and the other four songs in his solo set. He plans to finish the tour. "I think I'm gonna get away with wearing an air cast and I'm going to have to use this bone-regenerator kinda thing," he said. "It's looking like no more run- vt jTTi 1 if I VI THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Bo Bice ning around for the rest of the tour.

I'm gonna be stuck trying to pulloffapiano song or something." Choosing will be harder than ever READ MORE Get Fringe ticket info and the list of this year's plays. www.edmontonjournal.com and click on Online Extras MARK MCGUIRE Albany Times Union BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. Maybe reality shows don't have to ooze from some primordial cesspool of man's worst instincts. Maybeviewers have had theirfillofTV debasement, of taking smug satisfaction ina fellow person's foibles or downfalls. You know, maybe we are evolving as a society.

As a species, even. Naaaaaah. But there could be something happening in the unscripted television world. Yes, many of the successful reality shows are built on the foundation of hurniliatingparticipants, oratleastpeo-ple behaving badly. These shows succeed by providing artificially sweetened feelings of superiority to viewers at home.

But there is a crop of shows, and more coming, that are simply feel-good stories from days gone by. Sincerity is the new cynicism. "We saw it last year," ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson said. "You saw that people really were kind of a little turned off by the really mean-spirited cynical kind of reality." NBC, the home of the loathsome (and fading) Fear Factor, is bringing in Three Wishes, in which Grammy winner Amy Grant travels to small towns to grant wishes. Even on an existing show like TheBiggestLoser, the emphasis is changing from 'look at those big tubs of goo trying to run" to pitching it as a transformative experience in which everybody wins.

Not a dork in sight Oneofmenetworksintheforefrontof feel-good reality is ABC. Extreme Makeover Home Edition is a hit, and no one is made to look like a dork. TheMir-acle Workers, a midseason entry this year, will focus on patients with serious medical conditions who undergo medical procedures often procedures they would otherwise be unable to afford. Then there is the reality hit of this summer, Dancing with the Stars. The concept of a dance competition featuring semi-celebrities seems as archaic as its tide.

It sounds like something Arthur Murray would have hosted on the Dumont network. Maybe that's why it works. Maybe nobody needs to be stabbed in the back in order for America to watch. "The majority (of reality shows) are pretty negative. The majority are trying to catch people out there," Dancing With the Stars supervising producer Izzie Picksaid.

"We've never been about that. That is why people love the show so much." McPherson said this was on display in marketing as well, noting how American Idol has shifted from promoting people making fools of themselves to those chasing a dream. As well, Fox has already stolen the ballroom concept with So You Think You Can Dance, which debuted strongly earlier this month. "Unfortunately, you got to be careful at what does that become overkill because you have all the continued. "Dancing was another way of doing kind of a wish fulfilment, (a) fun, just vibrant show that was just a joy to watch and really, you know, was not cynical at all," he said.

British import Dancing HTfAfie Stare wasa British import that has been a hit in several other countries, from Australia to Italy and Poland, before coming to the states in THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.FILE Kelly Monaco and her dancing partner, Alec Mazo, hold up the trophy after winning Dancing with the Stars last month. FRINGE Continued from CI Taking a cue from Broadway and West End deals for tourists, mini-Fringer packages are available through city hotels. There's a prize for the most obsessive Fringee, with the ticket stubs to prove it As for parking, don't ask: only divine intervention could improve your chances in Old Strathcona. Think bus (free after 6 p.m.). Think bike.

Think High Level street car. Think levitation. As for the shows, the addition of an official venue and a BYOV, making 13 each, means that there are more than even some 1,163 performances in all. In fact, forme first time, the waiting list of shows in need of time slots has actually been eradicated. The new Stage 13, incidentally, at Planet ZE Design Studio, just south of The Dub on Whyte Avenue, is named in honour of Fringe founding father Brian Paisley.

This makes choosing harder than ever, of course. There are cabarets, one- woman explorations of the inner labyrinth, high-decibel performance poets, full-length improvs, dance theatre meditations, chamber adaptations of classic novels like Pride andPrejudice, join-in Hamlets, new Canadian plays, plays by people everyone has heard of, like Brian Friel (After play). Strieker thinks that there's an unusual preponderance of shows about "religion, Chekhov, and history and, ohyes, bts of musicals." Advance tickets (with a surcharge of $3 on the $10 max that goes to artists) go on sale August 11. Go to the Fringe box office in theArts Barns in person, or call 409-1910 with a credit card. lnichollsthejournal.canwest.com I A ') i 4' I i i Plan aimed at attracting new viewers SUPPLIED Extreme Makeover: Home Edition designer Michael Moloney, centre, poses with some of the tradesmen who worked on a recent episode of the popular home renovation show.

in their 20s are starting to get interested in what's happening around them. We want to appeal to them," Citytvwill have to wait five months to see if the new look attracts a new audience. The latest Bureau of Broadcast Measurement numbers, released in May, showed CFRN had a huge lead in the 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. supper-hour news competition, drawing 158,600 adult viewers.

Global TV was second with 116,000 viewers and A-Channel was third with 11,000. CBC-TV had 5,000 viewers for its 6:30 p.m, to 7 p.m, local newscast CITY Continued from CI Tve heard nothing but good things about the previous host," Welychka says. "All I'm going to do is do my best to try and be as entertaining and informative as I can without pissing people off. I want people to look at me and go, 1 really like that Duncan says Citytvwill now be able to hire more reporters, camera operators and producers to cover local news. It's all part of a plan to attract a wider audience and better compete with Global TV and CFRN.

"We want to bring along new viewers," says Martin. "I think a lot of people in, but rather the hundreds if not thousands of viewers who voiced their displeasure to their local TV writers. Look for a significant change in the next instalment corning midseason that could ease concerns: A "results show" akin to the American Idol model that will have the audience results readily available, in addition to the judges' determination. The audience will be the deciding factor. Another change will be a likely upgrading of the "stars." "There's definitely people who are more interested," McPherson said.

"The casting process last time you made some calls to agents and it was like 'Are you out of your "Now it's like, 'Hey, you know, remember you called me? I was just joking. I really want to do that" sion," said Paul Telegdy, vice-president of programming for the BBC "Ifs a fun, satisfying show that hasn't got a nasty bone in its body." Added Pick: "You are not laughing at people. There has to be a turn at some point People love good, old-fashioned entertainment. They love it It's fun, ifs harmless, it's supporting people. "That is quite unusual." Not as much as it used to be.

The producers of Dancing, as well as the judges and first-season winner Kelly Monaco (General Hospital) have been baffled" when not outraged by those who suggested she, in fact, lost the competition to actor John OHurley Seinfeld). Message to producers: It's not the reporters who pounded you with questions last week who thought the fix was rmcconnellthejournal.canwest.com Point of View Paula Simons Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in City Plus June. It was a surprise no, make that shocking hit for ABC "ABC really backed what I think was a piece of innovation in American televi- m- Calling all Marthas! Domestic diva Stewart wants 150 others who share her name to attend her new daytime show Tl ,1 gU(DFW The Associated Press NEW YORK stmartcommartha. The deadline for submissions is Sept 1. An air date for the show featuring all the Marthas hasn't been set The lifestyle guru, Calling all Martha Stewarts.

The famous homemaker is scouring the country who turns 64 on Wednesday, will also star in a version of the reality show The Apprentice on NBC this falLHerold daytime series, Martha Stewart Living, lasted 12 years and ended when her case for those who don necessarily share her homemaking abilities, but her name. Producers of the hour-long syndicated daytime show Martha, which premieres Sept 12, are hoping to fill the stu-dio audience with JOHN WALTER MUSEUM Celebrate John Walter's Birthday Sunday, August 7,1 :00 5:00 pm Stewart DUOITOI JOl'im It's a party and you're invited to John Walter Museum. Admission is free! Play games, try some crafts, listen to music and meet some of John Walter's ancestors as they serve up the birthday cake! went to court Stewart has been serving a five-month term at her home in Bedford, N.Y., after completing five months in a West Virginia prion for lying about a stock sale. 150 Martha Stewarts for a special show. Those with the name Martha Stewart or Martha Stuart can find information at http:www.in artha.