Bimbos and Stud Muffins

It probably started with reality shows about "wealthy" bachelors pursued by women who wanted to "marry up." Then Flavor Flav traded a disfunctional relationship with Strange Love co-star Brigitte Neilsen for a bevy of publicity seeking nymphets in Flavor of Love.

Bravo began a series about Real Housewives of Orange County and MTV had startling success with Jersey Shore. What do these shows have in common? The participants are superficial, self-absorbed, highly sexed and have the social morals of New York bankers. Bravo has degenerated into a Real Housewives franchise machine.

Whatever happened to Bravo and A&E, which at one time rivaled PBS in the quality of their original programming? Or MTV, once a showcase for innovative, edgy musical videos? Or TLC whose initials, now ironically, stand for The Learning Channel? Or Discovery? Each and every one of them appears to me to have descended far below our society's lowest common denominator.

I reserve my strongest personal objections to the bimbo and stud muffin genres portrayed in the Real Housewives franchise and Jersey Shore, which objectify their subjects as purely sexual, mentally challenged creatures.Ugh.