New twist on a classic concept gives Lifetime dating show hope of survival

The saying goes that all the good men are taken or gay. Now, it’s up to one woman to decide if it’s true and pick Mr. Right.

A new Lifetime twist on traditional dating shows such as the classic “The Dating Game” has one eligible woman in each episode meeting three men.

Of the three, one is taken in a relationship, one is gay, and one is straight and single.

To win a “dream prize for two,” the woman must decide which one is single; otherwise her prize goes to the man she incorrectly selects.

Cheesy? Yes.

A desperate attempt to put a new twist on an old favorite? Yes.

Do I like it? I hate to admit it, but yes.

In the first episode of “Gay, Straight, or Taken,” Jenner, 27, has to decide which eligible man is the one for her by using her woman’s intuition while participating in activities with the men, such as touch football, swimming and salsa dancing.

In the end, she’ll have to pick Luciano, a 32-year-old bartender; 25-year-old Mike, who works as a club promoter; or Chris, 34, a personal trainer.

I know my mother always seemed to have eyes in the back of her head, and as women we’re supposed to be able to use our superpowers to determine if a guy’s single or not, but honestly, I couldn’t tell. To see how good you are at picking up on the clues, tune in to Lifetime at 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8.

At the opposite end of the reality spectrum, Joan in Van Buren asked me what happened to the finale of TLC’s “The Monastery.”

I have to be quite honest and admit that I’m not sure. While I can’t find anything saying the show was canceled before the last episode aired, I didn’t see the finale, and there aren’t any more scheduled episodes to be shown this month.

On the TLC Web site, I did find a link where you can read the “Monastery Memories” of both the monks and the participants, but there wasn’t a summary of the finale. I’ll just have to keep looking.

As we come to the end of 2006, the buzz for reality TV in 2007 already has started.

Coming up, you can expect the return of a few favorites, including “The Apprentice,” and a third season of “Beauty and the Geek” as well as a few new ones, such as Bravo’s “Top Design.”

Stay tuned as the previews keep rolling in.