I've never really followed an entire season of reality dating show, except for Meredith's turn on 'The Bachelorette', mainly because I was pretty sure she was doing it as a joke.

So color me surprised to find I actually enjoyed the debut of 'Love in the Wild' last week and have mentally penciled episode two into my calendar this Wednesday (9PM ET/PT, CTV/NBC). The show definitely hearkens back to the era of 'Paradise Hotel' or 'Temptation Island' but manages to feel like a fresher take on the pretty-people-in-a-hot-tub genre. Basically, it's a blatant attempt to mix 'Survivor' with 'The Bachelor'. The result includes some of the best and worst elements of both of those shows.

First, there was the whole "appearing with Britney Spears in the hospital" hoopla, and now Doctor Phil McGraw is pimping out his services again by bailing out a jailed teen who participated in a beat-down of another teenager. Presumably this service was in exchange for the teen to appear on his television show.

According to Doctor Phil spokesperson Terri Corigliano, "We have helped guests and potential guests in the past when they need financial assistance to come on the show - assisting with clothing allowance, lost wages, accommodations, travel and necessities. In this case, certain staff members went beyond our guidelines (re: the bail being paid)."

Mind you, Doctor Phil's got other problems. It seems that his Oprah sponsorship is in jeopardy as the talk show queen seems to be prepping a replacement for him. I just wonder if this means that Doctor Phil's show is going to become less like Oprah and more like Jerry Springer.