I’m so sick

of reality TV

I don't know about you, but I'm sick of reality TV and music contests and the prospect of night-time talk shows airing at 9 p.m.

Every time I turn on the television these days, there's another insipid reality show: 20-something backstabbers stuck in a room together somewhere, badmouthing each other to the cameras; a fake bride trying to decide which man she's going to accept a proposal from (and then probably dump two seconds later off-screen); fat or "plus size" bachelorettes trying to snag a fake husband, who will also probably dump the winner offscreen 10 seconds after making the proposal.

"America's Got Talent" is filled with a number of weird acts and an obnoxious British judge, much like "American Idol," which I also never watch, and I have never bothered to tune into "So You Think You Can Dance?" or "Hell's Kitchen" long enough to know what they're about.

Then there's Jay Leno's upcoming move to 9 p.m. five days a week on NBC. Frankly, I always preferred David Letterman (or at least the first five minutes of his monologue) and I don't see that changing, even if Leno is on at an hour when I'm still awake.

Does anyone really want to watch Leno five days a week in prime time?

It's probably cheaper for networks to produce endless reality, variety and talk shows, but it's pretty lazy.

CBS is the network that is hanging on to most of its audience and is also hanging on to its advertising dollars, unlike the other networks. CBS is also the only network that appears to give a rip what people feel like watching.

It already has my favorite show "The Mentalist." Since I like FOX's "Fringe" too, one of the two will have to be taped. But, since CBS airs reruns constantly, it's never hard to catch up if you've missed a few episodes.

I also took a look at some of the stories about the upcoming fall season and CBS is once again the only network that has some new shows I'll probably watch.

I like the promos for "The Good Wife," starring Julianna Margulies from "E.R." and Chris Noth from "Law and Order" and "Sex in the City." It's a great tease, with the "good wife" standing by her fallen politician husband at the press conference, where he apologizes to the public and asks for privacy so he can "atone for his personal failings." Then, in private, Margulies hauls off and slaps Noth across the face. Margulies gets to do what a lot of women would like to have seen happen to John Edwards, Mark Sanford and Eliot Spitzer on the nightly news.

After a pretty silly season, it sounds like "Ghost Whisperer" might be fun to watch again and CBS has paired it with "Medium," which the network was smart enough to pick up after NBC canceled it. Both shows appeal pretty strongly to a female demographic, including me.

We can always use another cop show, too. I started watching NCIS about three years into the show and got hooked by the deadpan Mark Harmon. I'll probably watch its spin-off "NCIS: Los Angeles" at least a couple of times.

The other networks should take a page out of CBS's playbook.

(Andrea Johnson is a staff writer for The Minot Daily News.)

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