Ammon News - NEW YORK — When 6-year-old Falcon Heene threw up twice while being interviewed about his role in last week's balloon ordeal, he summed things up for millions of onlookers.

Sickening.

Viewers had been riveted Thursday by the sight of a flyaway helium balloon feared to be carrying the child. The media wrung the story for all its suspense and tragic possibilities.
Then it turned out to be a happy mistake. Falcon was pronounced safe at home the whole time.

Then it turned out to be what authorities have called a hoax. On Sunday, days after Falcon turned to his dad during a CNN interview and declared "you said we did this for a show," authorities said Richard and Mayumi Heene had cooked up the stunt to land themselves a TV reality series.

Sickening.

But somehow inevitable. It's endemic of the more and more seductive urge to dismiss truth, responsibility and other traditional values in favor of hustling for fame on the genre that continues to be labeled, with less and less cause, "reality TV."
Last Thursday the "reality TV" of the so-called balloon boy could have had its own dread conclusion, and the sky-high drama was instantly validated by TV's most credible voices: news reporters and anchors.

The vision of a shiny, mushroom-shaped balloon swept aloft kept viewers spellbound, breathless and (let's face it) titillated. On-air commentators and experts kept busy speculating on how fast and far it might fly, when it might come down, and how much damage might result when it did. Meanwhile, voices were raised that maybe the child wasn't on board after all, raising questions of whether the boy had fallen from the balloon — introducing another potentially tragic set of circumstances.
Then viewers' memories were stirred: Wasn't this a guy who, with his wife and three sons, had appeared on the ABC reality "Wife Swap"? Turned out he's a veteran of reality TV!

But then reports began to surface that Heene had approached production companies about launching his own reality series. TLC network said Heene had pitched the network on a some months ago, but that it passed. Earlier this year, RDF USA, which produces "Wife Swap," had had a in development with the Heenes but in a statement Friday said "we are no longer in active development with the family."
Now facing criminal charges, with his credibility maybe damaged forever, Heene could find to his dismay that his TV career lies in tatters.
Now, whatever legal woes Richard Heene may face, he's known around the world. In the hands of the right producer, he's promotable and marketable. Never mind that the boy in the balloon wasn't really in the balloon. This alleged scam may have given Heene a boost beyond his wildest dreams.

* Source: AP