Ortega Promotes Reality TV Shows to Spark New Happiness Industry

In an upbeat twist to America's red-hot reality TV craze, international happiness promoter George Ortega has launched an ambitious campaign to create two new reality television shows with happiness at their core. But Ortega isn't out to just amuse and captivate audiences. He's betting the two shows will spark a new happiness training industry.

The first show, "Happy House' brings together a dozen co-eds under the direction of a professional happiness trainer for three months of all-out competition to see who can make their spirits soar the highest in order to win the grand prize. Ortega predicts "viewers will be thoroughly entertained as they tune in each week to watch the house-full of ambitious sad sacks do everything they can to boost their joy.' More details about the show are presented on the "Happy House; A Reality Television Idea,' episode of Ortega's weekly cable and Internet television program, "The Happiness Show.' It is viewable for free in streaming video through the show's website.

The second show, "Happiness Hero,' spins off Fox's popular "Nanny 911' and ABC's new "Super Nanny' series by enlisting a certified happiness coach to raise the bliss quotient of specially selected gloomy/grumpy families. "Viewers who haven't seen the blue bird of happiness around their homes in a while should find hope and inspiration watching as "Happiness Hero' teaches the families how to stop moping and start enjoying life,' says Ortega. Each episode presents key video clips from the four-week-long happiness training sessions, allowing viewers to witness complete "down in the dumps' to "happily ever after' transformations in one evening.

"These shows are important' Ortega explains, "because although researchers have found that Americans consider happiness more important to them than money, moral goodness, and even going to heaven, America is not very happy.' "In fact,' he adds, "She earns a lackluster grade of C minus at happiness, meaning that there are tens of millions of sulkers and whiners out there.' By the end of the shows, Ortega predicts, "Millions of viewers will begin searching high and low for happiness businesses to teach them exactly how to follow their bliss.'

But not many of them will find companies out there selling happiness training as a product. According to Ortega, "While amazingly effective happiness training programs have been around since the late 1970's when psychologist Dr. Michael Fordyce developed and published the world's first, businesses has been slow to capitalize on the opportunity." A couple of years ago, Dr. Martin Seligman, past president of the American Psychological Association and founder of the happiness-driven "Positive Psychology' movement, began training a small legion of "Authentic Happiness Coaches.' However, there are nowhere near enough trainers to meet the consumer demand Ortega expects from the new reality shows.

A happiness researcher himself, Ortega knows very well how easy it is to not only become happier, but to teach happiness skills to others. He explains; "Although there are hundreds of millions of unhappy people in the world, over twenty percent of Americans are actually very happy. Any one of them who has a talent for teaching could be easily trained to be an effective happiness coach in about five weeks. Within a few short years, savvy businesses could be making big money teaching millions of people throughout the world how to become much happier.'

Recruiting for the shows is already under way. Zelig Pliskin, author of Gateway to Happiness, has agreed to train the coaches for both programs. Pliskin's how-to book is considered to be in a league of its own by the world's top happiness promoters, and because Pliskin happens to be a Rabbi, the book focuses not only on happiness, but also on learning to become happier through the most ethical means.

Ortega has dedicated his life to helping our world become happier, and is very optimistic about the two shows. As a happiness promoter, he helps people understand how easy it is for anyone to become much happier in a few weeks through simple training, and businesses understand that there is money to be made selling happiness training as a product. "Through "Happy House' and "Happiness Hero,' he predicts, "people everywhere can finally see for themselves why happiness is what we most want from life, and that with simple happiness training we can all finally find our rainbow's end.'