falcon heene

All's well that ends well... unless you're the parents of Balloon Boy. On December 23, 2009, Richard and Mayumi Heene faced the Larimer County Court Judge Stephen Schapanski. Balloon Boy father Richard Heene was given jail time. It wasn't unexpected because Heene had pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant and who took blame today as the brains of the hoax.

To be frank, I think they got off easy. These parents did a horrible thing to their child. Oh yes, they inflicted a hoax on the public, but they manipulated their son to create celebrity.

In case you've forgotten, the scheme was to make the world believe that six-year-old Falcon Heene was flying off into danger in a run-away hot air balloon. The media chased the balloon and the story and Falcon was never actually in the balloon. He was hiding in the garage. It was all an attempt by his parents to get TV attention.

As far as well-orchestrated publicity stunts go, Balloon Boy, aka Falcon Heene (yes, that's his real name) takes the cake.

Playing into the public's fear of child loss and endangerment, the storm-chasing Heene family first reported their six-year-old boy Falcon as trapped in a homemade helium balloon, floating at altitudes nearing 7,000 ft -- thereby setting off a frenzy of media coverage intensely focused on the supposed flight of this very young boy and a distraught family eagerly awaiting his rescue.

But the story gets better: It was all a hoax, a carefully schemed sham created by Falcon's parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene -- who captivated a global, news-hungry audience only for sheer thrill ... and maybe a potential reality show deal in the process.

All this talk about the Heene Family and Balloon Boy and their hoax to get a reality show (and their appearances on Wife Swap) got me to thinking about something: would we watch a Heene Family reality show?

I'm sure that they are going to get some sort of deal from someone for a show, and there's a good chance they wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't for this hoax, so maybe they'll have the last laugh. I think all of us, if asked, would say "there's no way I'll watch a show with that family!" but here you can vote anonymously. So tell me: would you watch it?

The Heene family has been caught up in a media frenzy ever since it was reported that six-year-old Falcon Heene, aka "Balloon Boy," had possibly climbed into a large, homemade helium balloon and been carried away in it. The world watched, fascinated and horrified, as the balloon was brought down without Falcon inside -- but then it turned out the boy was hiding in the attic the whole time.

What sparked rumors of a hoax was Falcon's piping up on 'Larry King Live' that "we did this for a show." Attempting to explain his son's comments this morning on the 'Today' show, Richard Heene got his second shock in two days ... when little Falcon threw up all over him.

Was he stressed out, does he have the flu, or is he still airsick? Looks like there may be still more to come on the Heene family / Balloon Boy story. Watch the clip from Morning Rush after the jump -- but not after you've eaten your lunch.