Adventures in TV viewing

Most hideous things on TV this past week:

Next: an MTV dating/game show program, in which, from what I ws able to tell, one sneering young man auditions several girls in the role of "girlfriend" by making them do embarrassing, stupid things (which they go alog with willingly), and then he rejects them once he tires of humiliating them. Then he chooses a winner based completely on who he finds the hottest.

Rescue Me: I have been a fan of this show since its beginning. I love me some Denis Leary (inexplicably), and I was able to put aside the rampant misogyny of the show in the name of entertainment and gritty reality. But this last episode, in which Leary's character rapes his estranged wife, and she enjoys it, really has me questioning whether I want to continue to watch this program. What's the message here, that raping your wife isn't really rape, or that if there are feelings between two people, rape will be enjoyable? I feel confident that neither of those is true, don't you?

The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency: I also love Janice, but I admit that she is much better in small, controlled doses. Also, I'm pretty sure she's not very smart. But I am not cancelling my season pass on TiVo just yet. That bitch is batshit crazy, and I can't look away.

Take Home Chef: I had high hopes for this show, in which a professional chef accosts people in the supermarket and connives to help them cook a very special gourmet meal for their loved ones with his help. The chef, Curtis, is like Rod Stewart on crank: all hair, accent, and hoop earring, and there was a lot of Ferris Bueller-style camera mugging. Also, I think I saw some eye makeup on him. I'm sure he's a lovely person and an accomplished chef, but I can't help but think he was chosen for the accent and the physical package. Meh. I got about ten minutes in and then switched off.

Clearly, I need to read more and start avoiding the boob tube.