Welcome to another edition of TV or Not TV where I hope that these crappy reality TV shows are finally coming to an end.

VH-1 has been pushing out the world’s cattiest and crappiest reality shows for a while now. It all started with Flavor of Love and I’m hoping we’ll finally find an end to it all with Megan Wants a Millionaire and I Love Money 3. Even though I mention these shows you will never actually see them because they have been canceled before they have ever aired. The horrible reason for this is because a contestant on these two shows by the name of Ryan Jenkins was a person of interest in the murder of Jasmine Fiore in Orange County, California.

There’s already a ton of spin being put out by VH-1 as they have removed all mention of these shows from their sites and press information. VH-1 has also been quick to point out that the show Megan Wants a Millionaire was licensed to them by production company 51 Minds and 51 Minds in turn has said that they will take all necessary steps to make sure this type of “lapse” doesn’t happen again. I’m glad that they can call something like the booking of a sociopath on one of their shows was just a “lapse.” I’d hate to see what they consider an outright screw up.

I’m not really here to talk about this terrible occurrence or how this type of programming is leading to desperation in finding people to book for it, what I really want to talk about is how the public’s fascination with this type of programming is lowering the availability of quality television out there. Networks are willing to put money into reality programming because the cost of the production of the show is lower than that of scripted television and if they happen upon the next American Idol or Biggest Loser than they will have the best of both worlds with cheap shows and amazing ad revenue.

This type of cost of production vs. ratings and ad revenue has lead NBC to turn its back on the scripted shows and take the most padded gamble in with the new Jay Leno Show that will be making its premiere this fall. I say padded because, as I said before, the cost of the Leno show is so much lower than the programming that formerly occupied these 10 PM slots that even at a 1 share Leno possibly could be more profitable than the cost of the gamble of a new scripted show. They can try to blame the DVR all they want for the decline in viewing

I can’t plead not-guilty in the reality programming audience since I’ve made it very clear how much I enjoy both The Biggest Loser and Big Brother. There is a major difference between these shows and Rock of Love however. I’d really prefer to see  a few quality reality shows than the horrific meat-grinder approach that VH-1 and other networks have been taking.

Now that I’d had my little rant let’s look at what’s happening this week on TV.

MONDAY

PBS KIDS SPROUT – 6:00 AM ET: Pre-schoolers can now enjoy The Wiggles every morning with the brand new Wiggly Waffle Show. Man, how much money do these Wiggles guys make?

NBC – 8:00 PM: It’s the end of the road for The Great American Road Trip.

ABC – 9:00 PM: Dating in the Dark is turning the lights on like the end of an ugly night at a nightclub with tonight’s season finale.

TUESDAY

BET – 8:00 PM: I’m just wondering, has anyone that reads this column actually seen the Jessica Alba movie Honey?

CBS – 9:00 PM: The final six contestants in the Big Brother house play for the Power of Veto and we see them plot and squabble so much it becomes clear that isolation leads to pure paranoia.

SyFy – 9:00 PM: Myka gets trapped in the mirror of Lewis Caroll on Warehouse 13. I only mention it because I’ve had nightmares about this kind of thing.

WEDNESDAY

ABC – 9:00 PM: Remember how I started talking about reality shows that might be pandering to the lowest common denominator? Imagine contestants driving in extreme obstacles courses (and crashing on purpose) just to try to win $50,000. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Crash Course.

HIST – 9:00 PM: Researches go searching for the real Moby Dick on MonsterQuest and I can’t stop giggling because I just found out he was a sperm whale. After all these years I’m still 13 at heart.

THURSDAY

USA – 10:00 PM: I’ve really been enjoying Royal Pains and I’m kinda bummed that tonight is the season finale. Let’s just hope it’s return in the summer of 2010 won’t make audiences forget about it.

SHO – 10:00 PM: The Vatican and the Pope are the topics of discussion on the season finale of Penn & Teller: Bull$hit! Let’s see if there’s a report of either of them being struck by morning overnight.

FRIDAY

DISNEY – 8:00 PM: Finally, all those unanswered questions from the 30 minute restriction of The Wizards of Waverly Place can be addressed in their TV movie.

SYFY – 9:00 PM: Allison finally has her baby on Eureka and I’m sure that some wacky science thing goes wrong at the same time. Hopefully she doesn’t give birth to that Demon Seed robot shelled baby.

SATURDAY

BBC AMERICA – 9:00 PM: The story of the ghost, the vampire and the werewolf sharing an apartment comes to it’s first season conclusion tonight on Being Human. Hopefully it doesn’t end with the Mystery Machine pulling up and them all being exposed by those meddling kids.

ABC – 10:00 PM: The Alphabet Network rolls out the pre-Emmy special from last year with a re-airing of Jimmy Kimmel’s Big Night of Stars.

SUNDAY

HBO – 10:00 PM: It’s the next to last episode of True Blood, so really is there anything else to pay attention to tonight on TV? Really, you want more? OK…

COMEDY – 9:00 PM: The last of the direct to DVD Futurama movies, Into the Wild Green Yonder, is now made available at no cost for your viewing enjoyment.

ABC FAMILY – 8:00 PM: Have you ever noticed how many times a month this channel airs Ella Enchanted? Seriously, I see it every week trying to write this column.

– Will Wilkins wuz here.

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