Of course, it's also easy to say you're going to do the right thing when you have groups out there promising to take legal action because you've violated the federal Fair Housing Act.

But, as much as I like McPherson, I'm not giving him a pass on reality shows. ABC is, after all, airing "Brat Camp," which features real-life teenagers with problems ranging from alcohol and drugs to crime at one of those turn-your-life-around wilderness programs.

"We think it's an incredibly valuable experience and we think it's an incredibly valuable show," McPherson said. "We think it shows transformation and we think it shows real change. And to me, to showcase that, there's really nothing wrong with that."

Except that these are real kids ABC is exploiting for ratings. Just the way it exploits real kids on "Super Nanny."

"We certainly see it differently from you," McPherson said. "To me, to showcase that and to give the audience a sense of that, and give parents a sense of what can go on and what is available out there, and to give teens a view of the kind of changes that can go on, given problematic childhoods — I think that's a really valuable showcase."

Which doesn't change the fact that they're exploiting kids and their problems for ratings.

Adults have every right to go on reality shows and make fools of themselves as long as they only hurt themselves. But it's not the same thing with kids and teens, who aren't old enough to make such decisions.

That's "just not right."

THERE'S A UTAH TIE, sort of, to "Survivor: Guatemala," which begins in September. Rafe Judkins, who lived here until he was 5 and was "raised in a huge Mormon family that includes more than 60 first cousins," is a contestant.

Judkins, 22, moved to Pittsburgh and then Providence, R.I., but lists the Jazz and Utes among his favorite teams.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com