As the World Bids, EBay Turns to TV

Daytime television is already crowded with teary tales of seduction and betrayal. So why not a show devoted to the “drama, comedy, passion and personalities” of folks who traffic in porcelain kitties and plastic nativities?

Online auction house EBay Inc. is teaming with Columbia TriStar Television Distribution to develop a syndicated program for the fall 2002 season devoted to the joys of collecting mint-on-card action figures and vintage lunch boxes.

“This ranges into every emotion, ranging from heroism to tragedy to lighthearted stories that are the staple of daytime television,” said Russ Krasnov, president of programming and production for Columbia TriStar Television.

The as-yet unnamed show “will have a magazine format,” said Krasnov, promising “elements of talk show, of game show. There will be stakes involved.”

So what can viewers expect?

Well, there is the couple who met on EBay and got married, said EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove. He was a cabinetmaker. She was a doll collector. Together, they found a passion for dollhouses and miniature furniture.

Then there was the mother who, as a joke, posted photos proposing to sell off her four misbehaving children to the highest bidder.

And there was the uplifting story about a woman whose cherished childhood ceramic ducklings perished in a fire. After a 15-year search, the woman found a similar set on EBay.

“This is high drama,” said Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University. “You’ve got characters with very specific collecting desires. Every time they hook up with the perfect porcelain rabbit they’ve always been searching for, it’s a highly dramatic moment.”

Thompson said the show, like the PBS phenomenon “Antiques Roadshow,” capitalizes on two aspects of American culture: shopping and nostalgia.

“You know how people go to museums and they can’t wait to get to the museum shop at the end?” Thompson said. “This is like a museum where they’ve taken out the museum and left us with the just the gift shop.”

The target audience?

“Ladies who buy Snuggles Fabric Softener and imitation Hummel figurines,” said Douglas Rushkoff, media pundit and author. “There are a lot of people out there who would be interested in seeing someone else’s potholder collection. What the heck? Who are we to complain?”