Well, the poor world has to now survive without “Joe Millionaire” and “The Bachelorette”. At least half a dozen women came into my office, looked at each other, and screamed bloody hell about “Ryan!” and “I couldn’t believe it wasn’t Charlie!” and only through the writings of the Mox did I have a clue as to what they were talking about. I haven't seen this much mass hysteria since they couldn't believe it wasn't butter. I may watch crap TV (WWE, anyone?) but I draw the line at reality shows. I caught exactly 86 seconds of “Joe”, since the collective screams along my neighborhood echoed so loud that I had to turn it on for myself to see if someone had died. (THAT would have been a great twist, if Sarah had run into the ballroom, tied the two of them up, and forced them to be in “Bondage Babes 2”.) But no, instead, it’s poor Joe trying to string together a sentence that had both a noun and a verb.

I outlined a few potential new reality shows here, but already they are planning a sequel to “Joe Millionaire” which pretty much blows my mind. Then again, Hollywood made “Final Destination 2”, so really, anything is possible. (Speaking of unwanted sequels, I saw “Turbulence 2” on HBO17 the other day. Good God, did ANYONE demand this movie to be made?) The sequel, according to Fox, involves, “a lot a guys, a lot of girls, a lot of money, and a giraffe.” OK, I made up the giraffe part. But seriously, are they gonna do a version of “The Mole” where 10 women have to figure out which of the 10 guys is really the millionaire? Why not just put them all in a semi-circle, and dismiss them by saying, “You ARE the weakest millionaire. Good bye!”

It’s been interesting to watch the shift in tone regarding these two shows in the press, both the established press and blogs regarding the shows. While firmly entrenched in the “reality” market, all the talk now revolves around the fairy-tale nature of the outcomes. Both Joe and Trista are seen as having triumphed over the establishment that made them famous in the first place. They were "supposed" to pick Sarah and Charlie, and instead bucked expectations and went with Zora and Ryan. Somehow, they are seen as rebels for their choices. But with “Joe” drawing in 40 million people for the finale, I don’t think the establishment exactly lost.

All these fairy-tale attitudes may highlight a subliminal desire for a fairy-tale ending of our own in the current political climate. The best example I’ve seen of entertainment providing as thick a cover over reality as possible is exemplified in Kenneth Branagh’s movie version of “Love’s Labour's Lost”, which is essence was a film about film musicals made in and around the time of World War II. The reality of the impending war was literally pushed aside for brassy, classy, fantastical dance and song numbers. The brilliance of the movie is apparent only when that wall is smashed, and the male lovers are forced to go to war. The meta-commentary, at least to me, demonstrates a psychic need for shelter through entertainment in times of strife.

Am I thinking about all this too much? Perhaps, but it is food for thought. People want reality, but they want reality to turn out well. This is a seismic shift from “Embarrassment TV” which marks shows like “Temptation Island” and “The Real World”, where conflict for conflict’s sake seems to be the reason people tune in. The fundamentally cruel nature of these shows seems to be shifting, however, with “Joe” and “Bachelorette” paving the way. They may not replace their forerunners, but at least it provides at option to the social nihilism that has pocked most reality shows to date.