Dancing With Idols

At the considerable risk of ticking off a number of you, I must ask, what's the big deal with these misnamed "reality" shows?

Scrolling through headlines just about any day, one finds stories about wars, disasters, political moves and who's winning or getting thrown out of "American Idol," "Dancing with the Stars," a bachelor competition or some other far-fetched idea of entertainment.

First of all, it's hard to believe these things are successful, but I cannot fathom why news agencies give them such play.

The answer must be the same reasons television airs the shows. They are cheap to produce and viewers get caught up in them.

It's time we all got a bigger dose of reality by leaving pablum such as "reality TV" to play itself out before an empty viewership.