Not that it should surprise anyone--disgust, yes; surprise, no--but the Fox network has bought footage of Nadya Sulman and her brood and scheduled a two-hour primetime special on the happy family to air August 19: "Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage."
Subtle.
Here's my favorite part: According to the AP report, "Last month, a California judge appointed a lawyer to oversee the estate of the octuplets, saying he wanted to make sure they weren't exploited by paid ventures like reality shows."
So what's with the two-hour gawk fest? Fox executive Mike Darnell helpfully explained that his network couldn't possibly be exploiting the tots, because it's using footage purchased from a production company, which bought the footage from RadarOnline, which paid Octomom for access (but nonetheless wound up getting slapped with four citations from the state's labor commission).
See there? If Mr. Darnell's outfit hadn't scooped up the footage, a network with a really bad reputation for tastelessness and exploitation might have gotten ahold of it.
Oh, wait.
--Michelle Cottle