If you’re wondering what to do for a living, or know someone who is, they might find inspiration in some of the shows below, which represent just a slice of the ways Americans pay the bills.

“Gold Rush” – Season two of this Discovery Channel show premieres Oct. 28 (it was called “Gold Rush: Alaska” in season one), again following the Oregon father-and-son team of Jack and Todd Hoffman as they take a second swing at gold mining in Alaska. They reassemble in season two, adding to their team of down-on-their-luck and/or adventurous miners for a return to remote Porcupine Creek. Once there, they’ll see if they can realize their American dream of pulling wealth out of the ground with muscle, determination and a lot of heavy equipment. I’ve seen a couple of episodes, and it’s not an easy ride for the Hoffmans, but to strike big, one has to take big risks, and they do.

“American Guns” – The Wyatts of Colorado are the focus of this Discovery series which premiered Oct. 10. Rich Wyatt and wife Rene own Gunsmoke, a family-run firearms facility just outside of Denver, where they buy, sell and trade all manner of guns. And if they don’t carry just what you want, their gunsmiths can make it for you. They also test-fire everything that goes out their doors.

“Dirty Jobs”- Discovery Channel’s long-running Tuesday hit follows perpetual apprentice Mike Rowe as he checks out difficult, nasty and challenging jobs “that make civilized life possible for the rest of us.” Did you know that you could make flower pots out of cow manure? Ever wondered how a hot-tar roof is laid down or where salt comes from? Want to know what a “bunghole” is (not what you’d first think, fortunately)? If so, Mike’s your man. And he’s even doing his part to help boost employment in good-paying traditional jobs. Check out mikeroweWORKS to learn more.

“American Pickers” – You can call it dumpster diving or you can call it archaeology, but it’s essentially looking through other people’s old junk for fun and profit. This History Channel Monday hit follows “antique pickers” Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as they prowl America’s back yards, garages, barns, sheds, and the occasional garbage dump in search of history, lore, and unique items that are sometimes worth a lot to the right person.

“Storage Wars”- A&E’s hot Wednesday series follows professional buyers who bid on abandoned storage lockers in hopes of selling the contents for more than they invested. Unlike the “American Pickers,” they don’t always get to examine the finds before they have to put money down, but again, you’ve got to be in it to win it.

“Ax Men”- Trees don’t just cut themselves down or float to the top of rivers to become all the wood and wood products we use every day. Somebody has to go get them, and those somebodies tell their stories in this History Channel show. Over four seasons, it has tracked small logging companies in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southeast, where survival depends on getting trees to market, sometimes at great risk to life and limb (human ones as often as arboreal).

“Ice Road Truckers”- Stuff’s got to get from here to there, and this History Channel show — whose spin-off, “IRT: Deadliest Roads,” is currently airing on Sundays – demonstrates how that’s done under some of the most challenging conditions possible. The most recent season saw winter truckers hauling loads over ice and snow on the rollercoaster Dalton Highway in Alaska and in rural Canada. It’s physically tough and mentally demanding, and you’re only as good as the number of loads you haul. One major upside, however, is that your work station has a great view.

“Deadliest Catch”- Right about now, this program’s famous crab-fishing fleet and a host of camera operators — are heading into Alaska’s Bering Sea to begin the king crab season facing a sharply reduced quota that could seriously impact profits. TV stars or not, these fishermen are still operators of small businesses, fighting the odds and nature to keep their boats running and their families fed and to put a tasty delicacy on the plates of people around the world.

“Tanked”- Just renewed for a second season after a successful initial run, this Animal Planet series focus on Wayde King and Brett Raymer, New York-born brothers-in-law who run a successful business in Las Vegas creating and installing custom-built acrylic fish tanks. The recession hit them just like everyone else, but they persevered and now can add “TV star” to their resumes. Click here for a slideshow and story from when I paid them a visit earlier this year.

You’d figure from this list that reality TV has switched all its attention to grizzled mountain men and muscular, masculine physical laborers. However, it’s not just about rough types doing rough jobs; there are plenty of shows to cater to the fairer sex, as well:

“Say Yes to the Dress” – If there’s one thing that’s recession-proof, it might be the wedding industry. This TLC series, which just launched a new season on Oct. 7, has become a franchise with not one but three spin-off shows. “Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss” features the plus-size bridal stories at the same salon that plays host to the original show, Kleinfeld’s in New York City (a special airing Friday, Oct, 14, chronicles “The Big Day” “of “Big Bliss” bride Kelly Miller). “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta” and “Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids” both come from Bridals by Lori in Georgia. It’s a high-stress, potentially big-money business that requires consultants to be a combination of therapist, stylist and, in the case of pushy entourages, defender of the bride.

“Tabatha’s Salon Takeover” – Renewed for a fourth season, this Bravo series is as much about doing business as it is about cutting hair. Outspoken Australian stylist and salon owner Tabatha Coffey hits the road, providing a last chance for survival to salons on the edge of financial ruin. Her advice is not rocket science, but it’s absolutely necessary – know what you’re doing, take care of your facilities, treat your clients well, be responsible and prudent in handling your finances. If only Tabatha could take over Congress …

And, speaking of rocket science:

“Rocket City Rednecks”- I recently headed to Huntsvilla, AL – home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center — to attend the premiere of this National Geographic Channel series at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, airing Wednesdays (click here for a slideshow and story). Proving that super-brains don’t require skyscrapers and pavement to work, space scientist and native Alabamian Travis Taylor and his pals – including a physicist and Taylor’s “Daddy,” a former NASA machinist – drink beer, ride around in pickup trucks and do elaborate science experiments on the weekends.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Grab your remote, and you can find shows about exterminators, feral-hog hunters, motorcycle designers, auto enthusiasts, coal miners, oil drillers, dog trainers, lobster fishermen and pawnbrokers.

Who says you need an MBA to be a success in America? These days, it seems even the humblest and most obscure trades can vault regular people to stardom, and that’s a good thing. Despite a few high-profile holdouts, reality television has progressed beyond competitions designed to bring out the worst in human behavior and has now moved into an era of celebrating the dignity and value of the individual American laborer.

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These are amazing people, many of whom live and work in those states too many scripted showrunners merely fly over.  And the stories these brilliant reality producers create around the day-in/day-out drama of being a working stiff are usually much more compelling than any episode of “Law and Order: Liberal Sucker Punch.” I love seeing working people celebrated, especially those who cut down trees, kill small animals, fly the flag, carry guns, rail against government bureaucrats who make their jobs unnecessarily difficult, and come together whenever there’s a crisis.

Scripted television wouldn’t give working people their due; all these Hollywood snobs saw was fodder for cheap punchlines, so reality television filled the market.

That’s the way America is supposed to work.

Hollywood Reporter:

PBS – the network with no commercials – delves into the creative process of creating commercial television in the four-part documentary America in Primetime, bowing in October. The documentary special includes interviews with numerous actors and showrunners. And appearing at the Television Critics Association press tour here were Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal, Nurse Jackie co-creators Liz Brixius and Linda Wallem and Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman, who appears in the “independent woman” hour of the documentary.

Wallem called the film, “a beautiful valentine to television.” But what came through during the panel discussion was just how capricious the business is.

Selling your show in a network pitch meeting, said Wallem, has become more difficult at a time when network’s are desperately chasing eyeballs in a vastly fragmented media landscape.

“You’re talking to a room full of fear,” she said. “You literally have to deal with their [network executives] fears in that room. I always tell them, ‘Oh don’t worry, it’s going to be funny.’”

Rosenthal – who recently directed and starred in the documentary Exporting Raymond, about his journey to shepherd Everybody Loves Raymond into the Russian market – blamed reality television for diverting network resources from scripted television.

“Sure they’re to blame because they’re cheap to do,” he said. “The glut of reality shows that we’re seeing could signal something larger than just a trend. And that is the end of civilization.”

Full story here.

Right now we live in an America governed by a President who entered office with a less than distinguished record as a state senator and only a two year record as a United States senator where he accomplished little more than to run for president. And yet it’s Sarah Palin, a two-term mayor, former governor and chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission who’s had the narrative built up and fortified around her that she doesn’t have the experience to be the president of the United States. And who built that narrative? The media.

How exactly is someone supposed to rehabilitate their political image through the same media that willfully and dishonestly destroyed it? The fact that the media is more hostile towards Palin than anyone in our lifetime is not even in dispute anymore — meaning,  the traditional avenues available to most politicos for a rehabilitation tour aren’t available to her. After a near-fatal bimbo eruption nearly cost him the Democratic nomination in 1992, Bill Clinton could turn to “60 Minutes” for a second chance. Barack Obama  will forever be able to go most anywhere he pleases to get his message out. Earlier this month, even George W. Bush could count on respectful treatment  from the likes of Matt Lauer and Oprah Winfrey. Palin, however, is boxed in by what she knows is an entertainment and MSM establishment gunning for her, who see every opportunity to embarrass her as another set of cocktail party bragging rights.   

If you remember the corrupt political coverage of 2008, rather than talk about the record of a self-made governor with a compelling personal story who worked her way up the political ladder by fighting corruption in her own party, I can’t count the number of times the likes of CNN used valuable broadcast time to run that previous Saturday night’s clip of Tina Fey mercilessly mocking the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.  Rather than doing their job and, for good or bad, allowing Palin’s own personal story and record to define her, the media instead chose to allow a mean-spirited comedian to do that on their behalf. And don’t think for a second this wasn’t intentional.

So the question I would ask Rove and Will is exactly what is it they would suggest Palin do to present who she really is to as much of the American public as possible given the reality that any attempt to once again chance the MSM gauntlet would most certainly be a suicide run.

Since 2008, this indomitable mother of five has written no less than two books and a number of thoughtful columns on Facebook. She’s also a star political analyst on the powerhouse that is Fox News and has travelled extensively around the country on her book tour and during the 2010 election; meeting voters, giving speeches, and helping to galvanize the landmark political phenom that is the Tea Party. These are not only fairly traditional methods of shoring up your presidential contender bona fides, they’re also impressive accomplishments.

Which leaves the one non-traditional method that some feel is an automatic disqualifier, the TLC reality show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.”

If nothing else, while reasonable and savvy guys like Rove and Will might disagree with her choice, you have to admire Palin’s willingness to think outside the box to forge a new political path. Certainly, as mentioned above, this is partly out of necessity, but you have to wonder if she didn’t learn something from Tina Fey that our side has been frustratingly slow to learn: just how potent a political tool popular culture is. As someone who has spent the last decade frustrated over our side’s refusal to engage in pop culture, our side’s seeming inability to understand the power of entertainment, Palin’s willingness to jump in with both feet feels like a moment of personal vindication. Finally, a conservative has figured out the obvious.

Regardless of what her ultimate political goal is, what Palin is doing through her television show as well as social media such as Twitter and Faceboook, is obvious. This is all a pretty ingenious ju-jitsu move that allows her to turn the hostile media’s obsession with her into a platform where she can get an unfiltered message through directly to the people. Katie Couric can’t maliciously edit a Tweet, Anderson Cooper can’t bait a Facebook post, and the MSM as a whole can’t put a funhouse mirror up to an appealing and relatable family when they have their own television show.

I also disagree with Rove and Will that the very idea of doing a reality show automatically qualifies as “non-presidential” or “chasing celebrity.” in the past, we’ve seen presidents and future presidents survive and even prosper after appearances on “Saturday Night Live,” “Laugh In,” “The Daily Show,” and blowing a sax on Arsenio Hall. In fact, a politician holding on to their dignity in such a setting can offer some insight into their character, and thus far “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” certainly hasn’t resulted in anything undignified.

The route to the presidency keeps evolving. When the great American experiment first began it was considered undignified to campaign. Then it wasn’t. FDR was the first politician to understand the power of radio, JFK TV. Maybe Palin will be remembered as the first to harness the power and possibilities of the growing reality show landscape. Or maybe she’ll be the first to realize its pitfalls.

Regardless, like she did to cross that glacier in the premier episode of “Alaska,” what I think Palin is doing is tying herself to the only people she trusts and cautiously and bravely making her way along a treacherous path filled with pitfalls. Here and there, she pokes the ground to make sure the footing is solid and sometimes it’s not. But she has a goal in mind, she’s young, and there’s no quit in her.

And so she finds another way and keeps right on coming.

No blood.  No monsters.  Just our own imagination tweaked by the single cam format, a sub-genre leveraged years later by Quarantine, Cloverfield, and Paranormal Activity.

Those films wouldn‘t exist unless Blair Witch proved the format could draw audiences in.

Made on the uber-cheap by a pair of unknown filmmakers, Blair Witch was nothing less than a sensation when it hit theaters 11 years ago. It was the ultimate word of mouth hit without recognizable stars, just a savvy Internet campaign that hinted that what you were about to see actually happened. Everything coalesced into a bracingly original experience, something impossible to recapture today.

That makes the just-released Blu-ray release a chance to appreciate a groundbreaking film, but not a moment to jump out of our seats all over again. The scares simply aren’t the same as they once were. That leaves a curious film, one that still commands our attention but cannot help but disappoint when compared to timeless shockers like The Omen and The Exorcist.

What emerges is a precursor to our reality television age, when everyone is armed with a video camera and few thoughts remain private.

The story remains a model of simplicity. Three young filmmakers head into the woods of rural Maryland to explore the myth of the Blair Witch. Locals say the creature has haunted the area for decades, a hairy half-man, half-beast who slaughters children and adults alike.

The filmmakers quickly get lost despite the map wrangling of their unofficial leader, Heather (Heather Donahue). They’re forced to camp out several nights straight, and each time they go to bed they hear odd noises and wake to find their camp site changed in small but peculiar ways.

Is someone pulling a prank on them, or is the Blair Witch prepping for the kill?

Much of the film’s dialogue feels unforced and raw, which helps the illusion that these three no-name actors might really be the real deal – filmmakers who died pursuing their art. That’s hooey, of course, but it was part of what made the film special during its theatrical run.

The script doesn’t give us much insight into the characters, a flaw that grew worse over time. They bicker about directions and how Heather refuses to put her camera down, but the arguments rarely reflect on the characters. It pushes the story forward, but when their lives are imperiled, it doesn’t make it easier to root for a possible rescue.

Only Mike (Michael C. Williams) is given a semblance of a character arc, growing from a passive soul to someone who takes measures to keep the trio sane.

The cam format allows for some confessional moments, and it’s hard not to think about those reality show rants when Heather turns the camera on herself to apologize for getting her friends in such a mess.

The extras include four alternate endings, each offering little in the way of new shocks, plus the antiquated short about the “true story“ behind the “Witch.” What’s missing is an extensive “making of” feature, or even one showing the film’s legacy from the perspective of film historians.

The Blair Witch Project can’t scare us silly any longer, but the film still matters to horror fans all the same.

Like many other teenage girls, Olivia regards the fight for female equality as over. “In the Western world, we’re pretty equal,” she says. 

She has every reason to think so. Going to university is a given. So is having a career—perhaps in business or maybe medicine. She’s surrounded by smart, independent women, including her mother, who holds a Ph.D. in education and is the director of LINCWell, a student enrichment support centre at St. Clement’s girls’ school in Toronto.

Yet Leanne Foster, whose position puts her in the daily orbit of the age-old divide between teenage girls and their mothers, is not as sanguine as her daughter about female equality. She sees a unique generation gap emerging: on one side, mothers who came of age during the women’s movement of the 1970s fighting for equal opportunities, “empowerment” through financial independence and rejecting female “objectification”; on the other, their daughters, raised in a hyper-sexualized culture replete with Bratz dolls, porn-inspired American Apparel ads, and the message telegraphed by Kim Kardashian and her tabloid-cover cohorts that a leaked sex tape is the quickest route to female success.

For these girls, Snoop Dogg’s misogynist Bitches Ain’t S–t is not an affront but a ring tone, and “slut” and “bitch” are not put-downs but affectionate greetings between female friends. Snooki, the 22-year-old star of the reality show Jersey Shore, whose ambitions consist of getting drunk, vomiting on camera, and spending days in a tanning salon, is the star of the hour. “I love Snooki,” says one 20-year-old. Olivia agrees. “It’s so ridiculous, it’s funny,” she says of the show. “I don’t relate that to my life at all. I wonder, ‘Why would you do that?’ But it’s enjoyable to watch.”

Meanwhile, their mothers, who walked in Take Back the Night marches to raise awareness of violence against women, are horrified, particularly by the sight of Snooki getting punched in the face by a man—footage used by MTV to promote the show.

Some of them see a clock ticking backward. “It’s worse than the 1950s,” says the mother of a 24-year-old, referring to the ubiquity of Photoshop and cosmetic surgery creating beauty standards more unattainable than ever.

Read the full article here. Over at The Daily Caller, Caroline May recently touched on the subject, as well.

Starting next week, Big Hollywood will run a series on this very topic and further explore how popular culture, with the help of misguided feminists, has turned feminism into something perverse. Let’s face it, this idea of empowerment through female sexualization is a dream come true for every male eager to treat women like a pieces of meat.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Their verbal barbs are mean and drawing blood and I can’t change the channel. Not since the meow days of Falcon Crest and Dynasty have I so wanted to see to see manicured claws maul Maybelline. But this feeling seems different somehow, and research on the way reality shows affect viewers appears to confirm that it is.

Are viewers more likely to emulate behavior when the characters on the screen are real people? The answer appears to be ‘yes.’

“Reality programs are the most likely to be imitated” says Sarah Coyne, a Brigham Young University professor of family life and lead author of a study that will appear in the June issue of The Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. She is just one of a number of academics studying the barely examined effects of Reality TV: “I knew the level of aggression was going to be high, but I had no idea it was going to be this high,” says Coyne. “All audiences think it won’t affect them, but we aren’t as immune as we think we are.”

I’m certainly not.

On the tube, Noo Joisey divorced housewife Danielle Staub…

Danielle Staub

….whom the FBI once arrested for drug running and kidnapping, has crashed a child’s cancer fundraiser with an entourage of wise guy ex cons that includes the president of Hells Angels.

Daniele Staub aka Beverly Merrill

They’re staring the fundraiser people down. Staub threatens to “turn them loose.” Will someone get their face punched? Will someone get whacked? That aside, I’m starting to feel the emotions I felt when looking for trouble long ago even though I’m now too old to act on them.

That may not be true of others.

“Reality television is overtaking the networks and polluting the viewers’ minds with distorted pictures of reality, leaving behind an even bigger effect than that of regular television,” writes Erica Pontius of Missouri Western State University’s Department of Psychology. “These shows appeal to a baser component of human nature, the part that gets pleasure from seeing other people fail,” adds Amber Watts in her book Melancholy, Merit, and Merchandise: The Postwar Audience Participation Show. “What are the repercussions of this,” she asks?

It’s worth noting that one of the shows Watts is referring to is Queen for a Day, the 1950s forerunner, she says, of modern reality TV.

Basically, it was tales of misery for merchandise where the woman who told the most heart-wrenching, weepy story of woe won prize wampum.

Even so, that show contained all the elements that make modern reality TV work and the typical reality fan different from those of fictional shows, according to a study by Psychology Today.

Unrealistic Expectations

Reality TV, as opposed to fictional stories, represents itself as real life, causing many to believe their own lives should be as dramatic as a meeting with Harvey Weinstein.

Desire for Status

“Fans of the shows are much more likely to agree with statements like, ‘Prestige is important to me’ and ‘I am impressed with designer clothes,’  says Psychology Today. Those viewers liked to fantasize about gaining status and fame by just showing up.

Escapism

Always an element in fictional drama, but it’s even more pronounced when viewers see ordinary people leaving their everyday routine to try being  America’s Next Top Model or to test their manhood on an Alaskan fishing boat. Deadliest Catch captain Sig Hanson said he’s amazed how many men come North looking for crew work they are clearly unable to handle.

Lack of Privacy

Because of reality TV conditioning, “expectations of privacy have been eroded … Public disclosure, even of formerly private behavior and feelings, is the expectation” says Brad Waite of Central Connecticut State University.

Humiliation

Waite also found a definite desire to view the humiliation of others and says the coding of character behaviors showed reality programs were much higher in humiliation than scripted dramas.

Thatsa’ lotta human frailties, and they’re all about to be served up on one reality show plate as consequences.

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice and her husband Joe are a false reality.

They cannot afford their gaudy 10,000 square foot mansion, expensive furniture, jewelry and rolls of $100 bills many viewers are probably envious of, according to the New York Post.

The real reality is that they owe 11 million dollars for all that appearance and they can’t pay.

How’s that for a reality bite?

The show won’t fit the anti-military narrative of Hollywood productions like The Green Zone or Avatar, but that’s OK. Like I said, this show is based on reality.

Luckily, we have videos for the first episode of our new show. A group of new National Guard recruits recently sat down with pollster Frank Luntz to talk about why they joined the service. The footage is inspiring and flies in the face of Hollywood’s relentless anti-military stereotypes. In fact, these videos present a very diverse picture of America’s finest men and women.

In the video, many of the recruits cite the Guard’s education benefits as a reason for joining. You’ll notice none of them claim they have a “right” to a college education and instead seem thankful for the opportunity. Shouldn’t we be thanking them?

In the second segment, Luntz asks the recruits to expand on their answers by pointing out that many of them used the word “service.” Their responses echo the themes of freedom, liberty, safety, America’s founding fathers, and sacrifice repeatedly.

These brave young people are willing to risk their lives defending the free speech rights of others, including those who to this very day, falsely malign them and their fellow service members. In reality, what we see is a group of caring, intelligent and thoughtful human beings.

I suggest that these recruits have a better grasp on “the real world” than a bunch of self obsessed twenty-somethings living the high life on MTV’s dime.

These American patriots deserve our admiration, support and respect. To offer anything less would transform every one of us into “the biggest loser.”

Reality TV has given us real housewives, wife swaps and biggest losers. Finally, the whole genre may have jumped the shark right here in DC.  The Salahis hadn’t even finished auditioning for Bethesda-based Half Yard Productions when they pulled off the ultimate reality-show stunt.  By gate-crashing a White House State Dinner, one can just hear the director behind the camera: “You got the part, baby!” Now comes news of a third crasher… Salahi friend Carlos Allen, a D.C. “party promoter!” With all these shenanigans at that first State Dinner, it’s a wonder Indian Prime Minister Singh didn’t run screaming — “I’m a Dignitary — Get Me Outta Here!”

Last month, in response to the ‘party crashers,’ an outraged Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) wanted to know what GE’s Jeffrey Immelt knew and when he knew it.  After all, he attended the State Dinner as a confirmed guest, and in an awkward twist, the reality TV show for which Michaele and Tareq Salahi were auditioning, “Real Housewives of D.C.,” is produced by Immelt’s Bravo network.  Watson, who chairs the Congressional Entertainment Caucus, called for a sweeping review of “the conduct and ethics of reality television in general.”  This, from a woman who once praised Fidel Castro as “one of the brightest leaders I have ever met.”  With words like that, she shouldn’t stand in judgement of reality TV, she ought to be on it!

Nary a peep has been heard from Congresswoman Watson and her reality TV investigation lately.  Perhaps Democrats realize they have bigger problems than reality TV.

D.C. is rarely featured in reality television.  Its official image tediously plays out on television every night in households across America.  All political spin, prepared speeches and carefully choreographed sound bites; not the unscripted, spontaneous train-wreck fare familiar to reality TV audiences.  But ‘official’ Washington provides an unmatchable reality show backdrop. Imagine Survivor’s Jeff Probst hosting a show where a handful of lawmakers get voted off Capitol Hill each week.  All the makings of histrionics worthy of an Emmy!

In a distressing quest for fame, the Salahis did what any respectable reality TV star would do and threw common sense right out the window, sashayed uninvited through the door, and hobnobbed with the leader of the free world.  Respect and restraint are words completely unknown in reality TV — so Michaele, acting as a true desperate housewife, posted her White House exploits all over her Facebook page. Perfect!

Ironic that the official entertainment for Obama’s first State Dinner was none other than reality TV star Jennifer Hudson.  Having been booted from “American Idol,” Hudson went on to receive an Academy Award.  Sometimes reality TV stars aren’t always the biggest losers –Hudson’s “Idol” appearance launched an acting and singing career.

For their part, the Obamas don’t seem to have any problem with reality TV. Hosting a White House “Iron Chef” competition for the Food Network that aired just last week, Michelle Obama became the first presidential wife to appear live on a reality TV show. “The Naked Chef,” Jamie Oliver, served the Obamas while they dined in London at the G-20 last year.  The First Lady’s hairstylist, Johnny Wright, inked a ‘docu soap’ reality show deal.  Even the winner of Obama’s “Health Care Reform Video Challenge,” Eric Hurt, was a contestant on the trashy reality show “Temptation Island.”   (More Fun Facts: one of MTV’s “Real World DC” cast members was an Obama delegate).

So, reality TV has finally come to roost in the nation’s capital.

A Salahi storyline would likely be a ratings and publicity bonanza for Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise; that is, if someone doesn’t wind up in jail over the whole thing.  But wait – that could make a good episode too. To be sure, a weekly show featuring the Salahi’s would only create an ongoing headache for a White House eager to move on from ‘Gate-Crashers Gate.’  

So, will the Salahi’s star in the new season of “Real Housewives of DC?”  Stay tuned, the series could debut as soon as this spring.

The latest clip sent to me was “Gossip Girl-Staten Island” and was a send up of the smallest NYC borough depicting the residents as “guidos” and loudmouth big-haired, spikes wearing women. There is also a reality show called “Jersey Shore” which has these prototypes being as obnoxious as possible for the small screen.

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I was born in Manhattan and knew little of the outer boroughs and was perfectly content with the daily newspapers ignoring them as well. The only  television reference about the “forgotten” borough was usually on a comedy cop show like “Barney Miller” when a police officer was threatened with being stationed in the boondocks of S.I.

I moved to Staten Island in 1978 right after I had my third child and had outgrown our two bedroom apartment. We bought an inexpensive twelve room Victorian in the soon-to-be gentrified neighborhood of Stapleton Heights.  In all the years I’ve lived here I have never met the likes of the characters parodied on SNL or any other reality show. Perhaps that’s because I live on the North Shore which has a more urban environment where many artists and musicians gravitated to from Manhattan.

The funniest line in the SNL skit is uttered by a “guido” telling his girl that he’s going to take her out for dinner at “some place romantic, someplace tropical, yes, Rainforest café.” Sophisticated New Yorkers may not even know what that is but it’s a franchise of family restaurants with a jungle motif. Note to SNL writers: Staten Island doesn’t have one but Jersey has a few.

The native Staten Islanders I’ve met do not speak with the Brooklynese accents in the SNL skits. Yes, there are many Italian families here but there are also many Africans, Pakistani, Russian, Polish, German, Asian, Irish and many Hispanics from Central and South America. There are also many pizzerias and many are run and operated by Albanians.  So basically, Staten Island is your typical New York City borough or is it and why do the liberal elite find it such an easy target to mock?

Staten Island is probably the most politically conservative of all five counties that make up the Big Apple. It was the only NYC borough that went for McCain last year and it is more akin to the Midwest politically. Its population has the highest median income in NYC and is 77% white.

The view of S.I. from my home.

Although I’ve claimed to have never met the Staten Islanders ridiculed on SNL, my children tell me that the caricatures are dead on. But the big hair, loud mouthed, gold-chained hairy chest Italians were portrayed in “Saturday Night Fever” and those characters lived in Brooklyn. Why pick on Staten Island, you may ask.

Staten Island is heavily Roman Catholic and very family oriented. After receiving so many glaring stares from storekeepers in Manhattan at my expanding brood, it was a relief to find that Staten Island welcomed and accommodated large families.

In 2004, Amy Richards wrote an essay for the New York Times Lives section in which she recounted the dilemma of discovering she was pregnant with triplets. She wrote, “It’s not the back of a pickup at 16, but now I’m going to have to move to Staten Island. I’ll never leave my house because I’ll have to care for these children. I’ll have to start shopping only at Costco and buying big jars of mayonnaise.” I’m assuming the reason she aborted two of her babies was so she could still live in Manhattan. Therein lies the liberal contempt for a borough that cherishes and respects family values and human lives.

Well this native Manhattanite loves Staten Island. It is the most beautiful and greenest of all the boroughs. According to the Princeton review, the most beautiful campus is right here in Staten Island. Wagner College has a million dollar view of the skyline of New York City, the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor as do most of the palatial homes on Grymes Hill.

So if the untalented writers at SNL want to continue mocking Staten Island, so be it. I would like to remind them however that this is also the borough that suffered the greatest personal losses in the 9/11 attack. The residents have shown great resilience and courage since then and will surely weather their puny attempt at humor as well.

Thankfully, these gory details aren’t directly addressed on the program – at least, not yet. Instead, the show attempts to behave as if viewers are still interested in mommy’s camping trip, or her recipe for Moose Munch, or dad’s go-kart race. Hard to believe just a year ago, Jon and Kate were featured giving marital tips, writing a book about touching family moments — even renewing wedding vows in Hawaii. This was actually when everyone might have become suspicious — since when did renewing vows half way around the world become so important to a family of eight kids? Since Mom caught Dad bedding the chick from the biker bar down the street. 

Make no mistake, when the show made its debut, I liked it. In fact, as a father, I was interested to see a family of 8 pulling their hair out over nap times, potty training and family vacations. As the show continued into season two and three, more and more parents tuned in and empathized right alongside those spunky Gosselins. What’s more — kids could watch right along with parents. It was like a slice of their own lives playing out on TV — times 8! It was all fun and games until Jon and Kate took a turn into reality show hell. Big-time bucks were flowing in through major sponsors, Jon and Kate ditched their modest suburban home and traded up to a sprawling 6,500 square foot million dollar McMansion complete with swimming pool and sprawling acreage. Suddenly, the formerly frugal Pennsylvania family was jetting off to meet Oprah, ski out west and sun themselves in Sand Diego. Like many families who hit the lottery — all this overnight good fortune tragically tore the family apart.

“Instead of seeing Jon and Kate together with the kids, you’ll see Kate with the kids, Jon with the kids – and as they all go through a transition, you’ll see glimpses of that transition,” Laurie Goldberg, senior vice president of TLC, said in an interview. Nice try.  By ‘transition’ do you think she is referring to Jon’s prancing around with multitudes of women in front of the world’s photographers — sometimes bringing them home to meet his understandably confused children? Ms. Goldberg’s network has struggled finding a purpose for the program amidst the cheesy way the Gosselins are splaying themselves out before the tabloid press.  The obvious story-line might have been to watch as a single mom struggles to raise her kids. But this is tough when Kate is all too happy to model her new bikini body before the paparazzi lurking on the beach or Jon is busy having a fling with a Us Weekly reporter.

The jury is still out whether all this infidelity, child trauma or viewer distress is bad for business. 9.8 million tuned into the premier episode which was heavily promoted to reveal juicy details of the martial eruption which had been playing out in the tabloids. But as the show slogs on, viewers are seeing less and less of the adult drama and, instead, are being served up heavily staged (and forced) moments with the kids. Perhaps it’s not a shock ratings have been slipping ever since.

Parents we were sucked in to thinking “Jon and Kate Plus 8″ was a family program — placed in prime time TV viewing hours and heavily marketed through family-friendly advertisers. So, what happens when a modern-day Brady Bunch implodes right before the viewer’s eye? “The Cosby Show,” “Family Ties” and the Brady’s were air-tight family dramas the way they were meant to be — scripted, with stars whose personal lives were often strictly controlled by studios and networks. If the actors playing Greg and Marcia were hooking up backstage (they actually did), no one was going to hear about it until decades later — like an imaginary tabloid time capsule that would wait for us all to grow up. Those days are over.

Today, children who watched the Gosselin kids must now be ready to catch a glimpse of their parent’s saucy indiscretions or manipulative motives on an “Entertainment Tonight” promo or on the cover of OK! Try explaining why Maddy’s mom’s own brother calls the show a “snowjob,” or why little Colin’s dad is splayed across the front page hosting a wild pool party in Vegas.  Good lord, the divorce isn’t even finalized (it is widely speculated that is being saved for Season Six)!

In the end, no one really cares about the fate of reality TV show performers. After all, they freely hurl themselves into living rooms to be judged and scrutinized.  But the eight Gosselin kids never asked for this… their parents were all too happy to cash in at their own peril (it’s beyond sad). And the many young viewers are just left scratching their heads.  Even for the families who endure separation and divorce — Jon and Kate are hardly role models. To call Jon and Kate’s behavior ‘trailer trash’ does a gross disservice for mobile home dwelling Americans everywhere.

Hailey Glassman, Jon’s longest lasting girlfriend, and coincidentally the daughter of Kate Gosselin’s plastic surgeon, recently summed it up, ”Jon and Kate have moved on with their lives. It’s only the viewers who haven’t moved on.”

With any luck they will, and this show will be splitsville.