Fox has done it again.

Just when everyone thought the network had sunk to the lowest of lows with last year's extremely controversial Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?, along comes Temptation Island.

The six-week series debuted last Wednesday and has already caused a tidal wave of press, most of it negative.

And it's no surprise.

The "reality" show focuses on a modern-day Pleasure Island, only instead of gambling and billiards, it contains 26 sexy singles. Four couples are brought to the buff-body buffet and aren't allowed to see each other in a test of their commitment.

But as disgusting as the concept is, it's even more despicable that people are actually tuning in. Are cheating and emotional instability really that fun to watch?

Considering some of the participants have cheated in the past, the suspense factor can't be that high. Plus, the couples the producers picked aren't exactly close to popping the question.

One of the males likened the show to the Pepsi Challenge, only with women.

But the underlying question beneath the show is "How far will Fox go?"

If the general public keeps on tuning into these kinds of shows, the network will keep on pushing the envelope and pretty soon prime-time fare will consist of the Orgy Olympics.

Fox defends the show, saying it's not about sex but about the dynamics of serious relationships. However, the producers tested all the contestants for sexually transmitted diseases before allowing them on the island.

If the show isn't about sex, then why bother testing for anything? Maybe the chances of contracting a disease should play a part in the proceedings.

It might make the contestants think a little more before possibly succumbing to the infidelity the show masquerades.

But that would only make it more realistic, and despite the genre's moniker, reality television hardly lives up to the billing.

Voyeuristic television would be more like it.

In reality, this type of situation wouldn't happen.

Sure, couples are tempted daily with attractive people, but they are not forced to be apart from their loved ones, and the singles are not getting paid to try to break their relationships apart.

In reality television, the networks create the situations, not the contestants.

Plus, once a camera is put on some people, they instantly cease to act like their true selves.

Any home movie of a cookout will show family members either shying away from or over-performing for the spotlight.

And considering that this home movie is disseminated across the country for all Americans to "enjoy," the contestants will carefully consider all their positions (pun intended).

Hopefully, the general public's fixation with voyeurism will fade before anything else comes along that makes Temptation Island seem tame.