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Balloon Boy family's reality TV dreams deflated
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Falcon Heene and his family have been all over television the past couple days, but apparently not in the way the family had hoped.Prior to becoming the subject of non-stop news coverage Thursday after their homemade weather balloon took off with 6-year-old Falcon supposedly aboard, the family had tried to pitch a reality show about their lives to producers and networks. A TLC rep confirms that the network of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" was one of the Heenes' stops and that it passed on the pitch.
Multiple outlets are reporting that the family, led by former TV weatherman and amateur storm chaser Richard Heene, approached other production companies and networks as well -- including RDF USA, on whose show "Wife Swap" the Heene family appeared last season. The Heenes have also made an Internet series called "The Psyience Detectives" (the official site for which was down late Friday afternoon).
That the family was seeking a reality show, and Falcon saying on "Larry King Live" Thursday that "we did this for a show" has helped fuel speculation that the family staged the balloon incident -- you've no doubt heard by now that Falcon was not aboard -- to drum up interest in their lives. Authorities in Colorado, where the Heenes live, say they want to interview the family again but for now don't believe the family did anything wrong (if it was a hoax, they could face charges for filing a false report with police).
Richard Heene denies that the family staged the incident.
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Related:
Balloon Boy throws up, dad denies hoax on 'Today'
Balloon Boy and family were on 'Wife Swap'
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These people are 100% loons and should pay for the services used to find this kid, and the kid deserves to be grounded ror all of this commotiuon he caused, but yet another poor example of bad parenting and the parents wanting pub for themselves.
Attention mongering, media *****, trailer trash family. Hope they are prosecuted. They didn't call 911 until after they called the local media. In fact, 911 was called third on their list - the FAA was first, then the call to the local media THEN 911.
Fake - all fake.
And Zap2it can take these new posting criteria and shove them.
But they ARE really cute kids!
I immediately hate this family. We should all just ignore them before somebody gives them a television series. I swear if they get a tv show...i dont even know...
There 15 minutes is up. Nuff said.
If you saw the video of the balloon release, you already know that the whole thing was a hoax. I can only hope that the Sheriff's department saw the video, and starts to ask questions. There was no way that they or any other person with a high school education would think that a 6-year-old was aboard that balloon.
Or, if you watch Mythbusters, you would also know it was impossible.
That family is a fraud, and charges should be brought forth, and they should have to pay back every dime that went toward the "rescue".
I hated this family the first time when they were on Wife Swap. I hated them the SECOND time they were on Wife Swap, because for no explicable reason other viewers actually voted to see them again. The only other reality show these nuts need to go on is Super Nanny, so Jo Frost can kick some sense into them just before she alerts the authorities and charges them with child endangerment!
First, if he had "fallen out" of the balloon like outlets said, helium would've been let out a lot quicker than it did. Second, have you seen the video of the three sons rapping on their Youtube page from a year ago? It's disturbing.
There is something disturbing about this whole family.
Richard Heene is adorable. I'd like to see hin nekkid