[Hooly One]

CBS' "Big Brother 5" debuted Tuesday night as one of the more contrived and cruel of reality shows to air in recent memory on a major broadcast network.
It's not enough that producers have confined 13 people in a house for up to 90 days. They felt such a need to manipulate and humiliate contestants it made the Jerry Springer show seem like reality.

Among the 13 players living in the "house" in a L.A. film lot is Diane Henry, 22, of Elsmere, Ky. In the debut she flew mostly under the radar, coming off initially as a sweet, normal gal. She is joined by a cast of mostly 20-something, buff-looking players ranging from a gorgeous yoga instructor to a Paris Hilton look-a-like who called herself as "Holly from Hollywood."

The show's introduction played up Diane's job as a cocktail waitress at Argosy Casino, briefly showing her on the boat saying, "I'm Diane and the odds are in my favor." She is also a full time student at Northern Kentucky University.

Diane was also seen saying, "I hate rude people" and briefly flashed a catty side (showing she is ready to play this game) when she commented to other players that one girl, Jennifer Dedmon, "is an easy target and none of us will feel bad about her leaving."

Diane does apparently not know that the heavily tattooed, pink haired Jennifer is a serious part of the game in what producers call Project DNA. It was revealed to viewers that Jennifer, from San Antonio, and another player, Michael Ellis, from Durant, Okla., were unaware they are actually half-brother and sister with the same dad.

In the debut Michael figured this out talking to Jennifer about their background. His key clue seemed to be when Jennifer mentioned her dad was in Vietnam with half his foot blown off, a fact Michael had known about his dad. He connected the dots, although he did not reveal these suspicions to his sister.

It is a cruel trick for a reality show to use the very private secrets of this family for entertainment and ratings purposes. It's one thing for a news broadcast to bring estranged families together, which has often been done. It's quite another to involve unsuspecting players in a game show charade about issues that go to who they really are.

Producers apparently have more of these games up their sleeve, suggesting twins of the contestants may be put in the house. Indeed, that may involve Northern Kentucky's Henry who has a twin sister, Lindsey (who is also her roommate in Elsmere). It was also revealed in the show that houseguest Drew Daniel, a Miami University grad from Urbana, also has a twin brother.

Perhaps the big loser so far in "Big Brother" is CBS anchor/reporter Julie Chen who remains as host of the show. Dressed in a silver lame and sequin pantsuit (topped off with skin glitter) the once-respected newsperson continues to loose any semblance of credibility in the four years she has played emcee on the show.

Cincy Post