DOCTOR ON ABC'S "HOOKING UP" FACED LICENSING HEARING

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By FELICIA R. LEE
NEW YORK TIMES

Published: July 16, 2005

Dr. Lisa Aptaker appears on the ABC Web site for "Hooking Up," the new documentary series about the world of online dating, saying that she has a tough time partly because she does not post her picture and conceals her name and occupation. On Thursday night, the 36-year-old gynecologist could be seen on the first show of the five-part series giving a false name to a surgeon during a date and refusing to disclose her profession.

"If they know you're a doctor, forget it," she says. "They'll bring an engagement ring to the first date."

Now, in a twist that further blurs the sometimes fuzzy lines between reality shows, news programs and real life - and that echoes unflattering revelations about some reality-show contestants - it turns out that Dr. Aptaker was the subject of a hearing last year about her fitness to practice medicine and about her willingness to divulge information.

An administrative hearing was held in Tallahassee, Fla., in August after Dr. Aptaker was issued a notice that the State of Florida would deny her a medical license. A 42-page record of the hearing said the denial had been based on Dr. Aptaker's effort to obtain a license by "misrepresenting or concealing material facts," her inability to practice medicine because of a "mental condition," her failure to update material facts on her application and because her New York medical license was under investigation.

"These statements are allegations that have been made," Dr. Aptaker said yesterday in a telephone interview. "I challenge any good lawyer to read these allegations that were made, in that they were not being predicated on any fact or applicable law."

She is appealing the decision and her New York license is in good standing, she said.

As for "Hooking Up," she said: "I'm not sorry I did the show. It was a lot of fun, first of all. I wanted to bring forth to the public that attractive, professional women are using the Internet for dating."

Dr. Aptaker's licensing problems first came to light in articles yesterday in The New York Post and The New York Daily News. In both articles, Dr. Aptaker was quoted as saying that she had been kicked out of the Army for appearing on "Hooking Up," which follows the online dating adventures of a diverse group of New York City women, including Dr. Aptaker.

"The Army is covering up its own misconduct," Dr. Aptaker said. "As the promotional events began for the show it was too much for them to handle."

Paul Boyce, a spokesman for the Army, would say only that Dr. Aptaker was given an honorable discharge on June 21 after joining the Army in January and being assigned to the officer basic medical course at a training center in Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. For personnel reasons, the Army cannot discuss the hearing that led to her discharge, he said. The documentary was filmed before Dr. Aptaker joined the Army.

Many soldiers have appeared on television shows, including two on the first season of the reality show "Survivor," Mr. Boyce said. He said Dr. Aptaker's appearance on the show would not be grounds for discharge.

"Hooking Up" is a product of the news division of ABC rather than its entertainment arm, but Dr. Aptaker's woes do not reflect on ABC News, said Terence Wrong, the show's executive producer. Mr. Wrong also produced the multipart documentary series "Hopkins 24/7" about doctors at Johns Hopkins Medical Center and "N.Y.P.D. 24/7," about the New York Police Department. He said that it is a truism of dating, and online dating in particular, that what you see is not always what you get.

"Whatever you want to deduce about her character you can deduce from the documentary," Mr. Wrong said of Dr. Aptaker.

The backgrounds of the women in "Hooking Up" were checked for any serious crimes, Mr. Wrong said, but the show's focus is not their careers but their lives as they date men they meet through the Internet.

"Hooking Up" is a serious sociological look at Internet dating culture that just happens to be entertaining, Mr. Wrong said. "The career trajectories of the women on the show has not borne on their romantic trials and tribulations, which was the subject of our documentary," he said.

The network found the women, Mr. Wrong said, by contacting major Internet dating sites. Unlike a reality show, he said, they are not vying for a prize. There are no plans to go back and conduct additional background checks on any of the women, Mr. Wrong said.

Shows like "Hooking Up" continue the trend that began many years ago - blurring the lines between entertainment and news, said Marvin Kalb, a senior fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University.

"People can be excused if they no longer see the distinction between reality TV and a news show," said Mr. Kalb, a former chief diplomatic correspondent for CBS News and a former host of "Meet the Press" on NBC. Dr. Aptaker's problems would prove embarrassing to ABC, he predicted, only if the show fails to attract viewers.

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