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Births among the rich pain commoners
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Published: November 13, 2009
There is something obscene and yet weirdly fascinating about a reality series based on excessive consumption in today's anemic economy.
Take the new "Platinum Babies," airing at 9 tonight on the WE network, for example.
It inspires both envy and loathing. The series follows well-heeled couples who drop wads of cash preparing for those bundles of joy.
Those of us who can't afford $245 Gucci infant shoes or $31,000 for a birth-moment photographer find this excessive.
"Platinum Babies" also introduces the less financially fortunate among us to birthing professions that we may not have known existed, such as baby shower party planners.
Who knew that one could hire a $200-an-hour feng shui expert to bless a baby nursery or a professional baby-proofer who makes the home safe before the infant arrives.
One couple hire a $300-a-day baby planner to organize the preparations and a $100-an-hour prenatal yoga instructor. They spend $2,000 on acupuncturists.
Of course, they also need a birth room aroma therapist and a birth doula (for physical and emotional support during the childbirth process). So what's another $1,000?
On the first episode last week, celebrity mom-to-be Victoria Recano (a news anchor at KTLA-TV in Los Angeles) threw a red-carpet Hollywood-themed baby shower where a mixologist (costing $5,000) served nonalcoholic "preggatinis."
On a future episode the expectant parents want only French couture for the little one. Another episode finds a proud husband giving his wife $8,000 diamond earrings as a "push present" for a successful delivery.
The cash register keeps running on "Platinum Babies" to give us that "Can you believe this?" feeling. And the couples on this series seem blissfully unaware of how this kind of indulgence might look to people outside their social circles.
DEBUNKING 2012: If you are seriously concerned about the world ending in December 2012, check out the "Six End-of-the-World Myths Debunked" article at the National Geographic Web site
The 2012 doomsday theory, based on the end of the ancient Mayan calendar, is so ridiculous that, of course, some people believe it.
The so-called Mayan prophecies are all over the Internet, the subject of dozens of books and the inspiration for the $200 million movie "2012," opening today.
If you are not up to speed on the Mayan mythology, check out "2012: Countdown to Armageddon" at 1 and 7 p.m. Sunday on the National Geographic Channel.
VIDBITS: ABC finally canceled the Kelsey Grammer comedy "Hank" - after five episodes. What took them so long?
•Fox has officially canceled the sci-fi drama "Dollhouse," which was pulled off the schedule for November.
•Not only did Entertainer of the Year Taylor Swift bring home the awards, she brought in the viewers. The Wednesday telecast of the CMA Awards was the highest-rated in four years, with nearly 17 million viewers.
•World War II has never looked as vivid as it does on "WWII in HD," the first-ever World War II documentary presented in high-definition color. Airing over five consecutive nights on History, the 10-hour series begins at 9 p.m. Sunday and tells the story of the war through the eyes of 12 Americans who lived it.
TUNE IN TONIGHT
"Bones," at 9 on Fox
The team investigates a flattened body found between compressed cardboard.
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