This is part of a series of forward-looking predictions for 2025. Read more.

When I was asked to write about my predictions for 2025, a number of important topics ran through my head. The post-election political landscape. The increasing presence of artificial intelligence in our lives and what it means for the future of work. The health of the Great Salt Lake, Bear Lake, the Colorado River or any number of important waterways in Utah and the West. But setting out to answer those questions would leave another, more important question unanswered.

So I will answer that question: Yes, they will make more trashy reality TV shows about Utah in 2025.

How could they not? Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” is one of 2024′s most talked-about shows. Meanwhile, Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” is as popular as ever, and its spinoff “The Trial of Jen Shah” had great ratings on C-SPAN. It’s clear from these shows that America wants to know more about Utah. Or at least the fabulously wealthy, mostly white, occasionally religious women of Utah.

This isn’t going to change in 2025. In fact, I predict there will only be more interest in the Beehive State. And rather than being an annoyance, this will actually be a great opportunity to showcase what life is like for Utahns who exist outside of the realms of dramatic cocktail parties, lavish getaways, soft-swinging affairs and high-profile financial crimes. We’ll all get our shot at reality fame next year.

The networks will be strategic about it, of course. They’ll ease people into it with the tried and true “wives” theme. “Keeping Up With Utah Jazz Wives” will premiere first. Imagine the drama of watching Jazz couples shop for houses in 29 different cities during the trade deadline or trying to find an outfit that matches those highlighter-yellow jerseys. A show like this would also offer a refreshing twist on the genre, since the average NBA player is about 100x more dramatic than any housewife.

After that, we’ll slowly move away from the upper class. It’s time for “The Real Ski Bum Condo-Wives of Salt Lake City.” This is drama. This is intrigue. If you thought the showdowns on “RHOSLC” were intense, wait until you see how Aspen from Cottonwood Heights reacts when her husband, River, buys a third pair of powder skis with the rent check. Throwing a glass of wine in someone’s face is interesting; throwing a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in their face is cinema.

At this point, America will have full-blown Utah fever. It’s time to let the men shine. “The Secret Lives of Mormon Husbands” is Hulu’s next smash hit. The male version will be a bit different, though. Unlike “Mormon Wives” and “RHOSLC,” which follow the women throughout their daily lives, “Husbands” will be a “Hard Knocks”-style sports documentary following a full season of church ball.

No one will be able to resist the highs and lows of recreational basketball in suburban Utah. It’ll blow “Hard Knocks” out of the water. Sure, when a passionate, hard-working kid from a D2 school narrowly misses out on his NFL dreams, that’s sad. But when Jeff from Layton tells his wife and kids that he missed the game-tying free throw in overtime? Devastating.

This show will also help America move away from its mystical fascination with Mormons. For whatever reason, it seems the viewing public thinks LDS members live very different lives than their own, whether they be devoted members or “Bad Mormons,” like “RHOSLC’s” Heather Gay. But if viewers want a glimpse at some Utahns who truly live unique lives, they’ll go crazy for “The Real Desert Kangaroo Rats of Moab.”

The catty critters didn’t come here to make friends; they came here to strut their stuff, speak their minds and survive on a diet of grass seeds and mesquite beans in desert scrub, open grasslands and creosote flats. Sir David Attenborough will narrate and say things like, “Here in the desert, water is scarce. But there’s plenty of tea and — like the temperatures — it’s piping hot.”

We haven’t even touched on dating shows, and Utah is the perfect venue for some of America’s biggest love-centric trash TV. Have the producers of “The Golden Bachelor” even heard of Park City? These are the fittest 70-somethings in the world, people. Forget pickleball; this will be the first season with an ultramarathon group date.

Netflix’s “Love Is Blind,” the show where contestants fall in love through a wall and get married six weeks later, should also take a visit here. Fans of the show deserve to see a family that’s almost entirely unfazed by the idea of getting married that fast.

It’s going to be a big year for Utah, and I think there will be room for everyone to cash in. And if you think that you, yes you, aren’t interesting enough for your own show, just remember the golden rule of reality TV: No idea is too stupid.

Brian Higgins is a writer and comedian in Salt Lake City.

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According to Jake Fischer during his NBA rumors chat on Bleacher Report, Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson are both available. But he also says that the Utah Jazz would prefer to keep Walker Kessler. (Big shoutout to David J. Smith for the notice on this one.)

This is not something new regarding each of these players but it does provide some clarity with Kessler. But this idea that it would take a “major package” to get him reminds me of something. Oh, that’s right, all of last offseason where we heard the same thing with Lauri Markkanen. That ended up turning into nothing, and we’re seeing the same playbook. Utah is happy with Kessler, but if there’s a team out there to give a major overpay, it sounds like Utah won’t turn that down. Looking back at this offseason and how it panned out. Teams like the Warriors and Kings, who were very interested in Markkanen, certainly look like they might regret not paying the huge price tag.

As far as Sexton and Clarkson, it seems pretty obvious that Utah is likely going for the highest possible package they can get for Collin Sexton. That may take time but Utah needs to think about the ramifications of having Sexton potentially costing them losses down the road. Utah is in an extremely tight race for Cooper Flagg and should think about making a move sooner than later to make that more possible.

TikTok has long known its video livestreams encourage sexual conduct and exploit children yet turned a blind eye because it “profited significantly” from them, according to newly unsealed material in a lawsuit by the state of Utah.

The accusations were made public on Friday, ahead of a scheduled Jan. 19 ban on TikTok in the United States unless its China-based owner, ByteDance, sells the popular social media app.

President-elect Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to put that ban on hold. 

TikTok, for its part, has said it prioritizes safe livestreaming.

Utah’s original lawsuit accusing TikTok of exploiting children was filed last June by the state’s Division of Consumer Protection, with state Attorney General Sean Reyes saying the TikTok Live streaming feature created a “virtual strip club” by connecting victims to adult predators in real time.

Citing internal TikTok employee communications and compliance reports, Friday’s largely unredacted complaint said TikTok learned of the threats Live posed through a series of internal reviews into the feature.

It said a probe known as Project Meramec uncovered in early 2022 how hundreds of thousands of 13-to-15-year-olds bypassed Live’s minimum-age restrictions.

It said many children were then allegedly “groomed” by adults to perform sexual acts, sometimes involving nudity, in exchange for virtual gifts.

The complaint also said a probe launched in 2021, Project Jupiter, found that criminals used Live to launder money, sell drugs and fund terrorism including by Islamic State.

In addition, an internal December 2023 study “documented what TikTok admits is ‘the cruelty’ of maintaining Live with its current risks for minors on the app,” the complaint said.

User safety

TikTok had fought the disclosures, citing confidentiality concerns and its interest in “preventing potential bad actors from getting a roadmap” to misuse the app.

A Utah state judge, Coral Sanchez, ordered the release of much of the previously redacted material on Dec. 19.

“This lawsuit ignores the number of proactive measures that TikTok has voluntarily implemented to support community safety and well-being,” a TikTok spokesperson said on Friday.

“Instead, the complaint cherry-picks misleading quotes and outdated documents and presents them out of context, which distorts our commitment to the safety of our community,” the spokesperson added.

In October, a bipartisan group of 13 states and Washington, DC, separately sued TikTok for allegedly exploiting children and addicting them to the app.

“Social media is too often the tool for exploiting America’s young people,” Reyes said in a statement on Friday.

“Thanks to Judge Sanchez’s ruling, more of TikTok’s shocking conduct will now be public through this unredacted complaint,” he added. “(The) full extent of its culpability can be demonstrated at trial.”

President Joe Biden signed a law authorizing the TikTok ban last April, addressing concern TikTok could gather intelligence on American users and share it with the Chinese government.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether to put the ban on hold on Jan. 10. It is expected to rule quickly.