Reality Clack – I’m a Celebrity, get me away from The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Okay, we’re in the times which bring about a bad reputation for the entire reality television genre. I’ll admit it. The reality genre has its losers as well as its winners. The genre definitely has some mind-rotting shows aboard the hot tamale train. And they tend to show up between the spring and summer seasons, well after the May sweeps so that the ratings mean diddly-squat.

For me, right now there is only one really entertaining reality show — So You Think You Can Dance. As a summer show, it’s a ratings winner. I’m not sure how well a second season come fall will go against the new scripted and existing hit reality shows like Survivor. Now, if FOX were to stop local newscasts at 10 PM, push ‘em back an hour and air SYTYCD five nights a week against Jay Leno, I’d be doing a happy dance!

That was the week it was

Oh, it’s a train wreck. Like most train wrecks, you might be tempted to gape at it. But you’re going to feel dirty and sleazy afterward, perhaps even a bit inhuman. I’m talking about I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! There is so much wrong with this show that I don’t really know where to start. Let me give it a try:

• These, for the most part, aren’t celebrities; they’re pseudo-celebs. Maybe Lou Diamond Phillips and Daniel Baldwin could be classified as celebrities. Stephen, the Lesser Baldwin, tends to go on the pseudo-celeb circuit and has diminished any true celebrity role he’s ever played by doing so.
• The premise is old and borrowed.
• The challenges are akin to if Fear Factor went wilding on Survivor. Actually sticking your hand in a bunch of live biting rats? Don’t they carry diseases? Isn’t this a lawsuit waiting to happen?
• It’s on way too often — four nights a week. That’s a huge time investment expected of the viewing audience. While the show only runs a bit more than three weeks, it’s still too much. At four nights a week, it’s just not going to happen for me. Twice a week would be my limit for train wrecks.
• Speidi, ’nuff said. I don’t like them. You know the world has gone askew when those two spoiled children are treated like some sort of real show business folks.
• That ex-model, Janice Dickinson, frightens me. I’ve had nightmares of the Cat Lady attacking me.

About the only redeeming light I see with this show is that Patti Blagojevich turns out to be a normal, decent kind of woman. With all she’s been going through with her husband and his legal woes, it’s good to see this side of things. I’m sure she’ll do better on the show than her hubby would have done.

Then there’s The Real Housewives of New Jersey on Bravo. I live in New Jersey. I don’t know these people or anyone like them. Am I in the wrong social circles? Doesn’t the state get a bad enough reputation without these bimbos representing us?

I guess it’s similar to the other shows in the “Real Housewives of …” series. But it irks me. Call me a prude, but if you have children you shouldn’t be on national television in this light. Heck, I don’t have children and I wouldn’t be on a show like this. I’m glad the real housewives I know in New Jersey take pride in their families and their work.

So You Think You Can Dance named its top twenty dancers this week after a brutal time in Vegas. Right now it’s too early for me to call out favorites as I don’t really “know” the dancers yet. I’d love to see Phillip Chbeeb go far, mainly because his popping is amazing — I could watch him do that all season! The real competition is coming this week as the top twenty perform. Let’s hope Phillip can learn the moves so we can watch his own unique talents for weeks to come!

Clacked by Jackie Schnoop
on Jun 08, 2009 @ 16:00 EST5EDT