Reality TV - what's wrong with the world

There aren't too many things that you can describe in one word. Neil Young is one of them. The next wave of reality TV is another... and that word is dung. The other night, I sat down with the LOML to test-drive a new reality show. Age of Love - pitting a group of 20-year old ladies against a group of 40-year olds in a battle for one man's heart. Interesting premise, different angle, hotties all around and most importantly, the possibility every week of a vicious cat-fight!! Needless to say, I made it through 20 minutes of the hour-long premier. Initial intrigue quickly turned into disbelief. Why do the "contestants" subject themselves to this? And why do viewers do the same? It's a train wreck waiting to happen... which, I guess is the appeal.

Now in those first 20 minutes, I was also treated to a number of commercials for other new reality shows. I'm embarrassed to even mention some of these:

Inturn - I didn't know they were looking for the next soap opera star.

The Real Wedding Crashers - If you're thinking, "there's no way that this can be as funny as the movie," you couldn't be more right.

The Next Big Thing - to do what, join the circus??

and my personal favorite, Pirate Master - Why are pirates so funny? Because they arrrr! (I just lured you into that joke, and you didn't even see it coming)