Ideas for Reality Television Shows

Since the writer's strike has been going on for several months, everyone is worried about what that means for next year's television season. The rumor and likely scenario is that we will be flooded with a lot of reality television. As if there isn't enough of it already.

Having lived in an apartment with no cable or satellite for several years, I didn't care about that too much. I've caught a lot of Project Runway and that show that makes everyone cry, Extreme Home Make-Over. Those reality shows are pretty decent, so imagine my surprise when I decided to go all out and get basic cable (I know; I'm behind the times).

It wasn't until I found myself watching absolutely horrible, repulsive reality shows that it started to dawn on me that things are looking really bad for next year's TV-viewing audiences.

I watched a really unthreatening hour of a Cops-like show, without the chases and drama. It was about the people that put car boots on cars. That was the entire premise of the show. How lame is American television and our culture becoming? Scarier, do a lot of Americans actually watch and enjoy this kind of television? Oh dear.

Anyway, I figured if that show can make it on air then I could come up with a few ideas of reality shows that I think (and hope) Americans would be a little more interested in watching.

A Few Ideas:

George W. Bush: Home Schooled. In this show, we watch some of Crawford, Texas's best (or at least most generous) teachers visit Dubya in the comfort of his own ranch where he goes back to basics. There will be spelling, reading, and pronunciation lessons and he'll get a really great course in fuzzy math. This show will not only be educational to children, but it will also be a confidence builder as I suspect that there will be many episodes that prove that even the former president of the United States makes mistakes too (and lots of them!)

Brittany Spears Enters the Dr. Phil House. Honestly, it pains me to watch the girl's life deteriorate before everyone's eyes. And just as bad, it's hard to watch America obsess over it and take so much joy from the spectacle. So, since there is no way that America will willingly give up its Brittany addiction, let's at least watch her try to make her life better. America will love it because it will have Brittany, Dr. Phil, and probably a whole lot of drama.

Tom Cruise: 24/7. Come on. You know you'd watch it. He's so crazy and unpredictable!

Churches Revealed. This reality show will take us inside a whole variety of America's churches, religions and cults. There are few things that people get more passionate and animated about than religion and most people have very limited exposure to any religion outside of the one they are raised into. Let's see what happens inside a Scientology service, an evangelical service, and a Jewish synagogue. America has a lot of curiosity and a whole lot of religion. It'd be a no fail TV show.

This is just a start. I'm sure there are a ton of shows I can come up with that would be a heck of a lot better than watching people boot cars. If that is all I have to look forward to, it might be time to cancel my cable subscription once and for all.