TVSquad

When reality shows first started to gain a lot of traction after Survivor, I had a tendency to at least sample most of what's on the air. Now, that would be an impossible task. The airwaves are overstuffed with so much reality crap that it's getting harder and harder to find any of them worth watching.

Even worse is the caliber of contestants. After early reality "stars" gained notoriety and temporary fame, suddenly any obnoxious bozo who wants attention is jumping into reality television. Now the show's as much about the ridiculous contestants as it is about the premise. It is in regards to this that E!s new take on reality holds promise.

Reality Hell airs Sundays at 10:30 PM ET on E!. We're two episodes in; the premiere tackled modeling shows, while this week's episode took on wife swapping. So far, they're one for two.

It's that time of year again when network executives are having meetings after meetings to decide which shows we should be watching next season. The CW announced the renewal of six of its shows about two months ago but besides that announcement, news of renewals have been rare when compared to news of cancellations.

Today, ABC sent out a press release confirming the twelve of its series would return for the 2009-2010 season. As you'll see after the jump, it was pretty much a given that those series would get another year either due to their ratings or the low cost of production compared to the money the show brings in with sponsors and ads.

• At 8, ABC has a new Wife Swap, followed by new episodes of Supernanny and 20/20.
• NBC has two new episodes of Howie Do It at 8, then a new, two-hour Dateline.
• PBS has new episodes of Washington Week, NOW, and Bill Moyers Journal.
• MyNetwork TV has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• Cartoon Network has a new episode of The Secret Saturdays at 8.
• Also at 8: TCM has The Maltese Falcon.
• At 9, FOX has the season premiere of Prison Break.
• BBC America has a new Mistresses at 9.
• National Geographic Channel has a new Dog Whisperer at 9.
• E! has a new episode of The Soup at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Just when you thought everyone you knew, ever, had endured their 15 minutes on some reality show, you've been hoodwinked. It's no longer just the lady in accounts payable who you spotted on Cheaters or your brother's friend whose family appeared on Wife Swap. These days, it's low-profile celebs, too, who are seeking a 16th minute, and no longer exclusively via humiliation on VH1.

Family and the workplace -- two constants in everyday American society. They are the places where we spend most of our lives. Sometimes we spend more time at one over complaints of the other. Other times, we barely want to spend time at either location.

Because these are so important to many people across this country, it made sense that television would delve into both of these environments during the Reality Revolution. However, since a 60-minute show about a senior technical analyst sitting in his four square-foot cube was not likely to draw in the audience, the reality shows that were created focused on those families and workplaces that were a tad more unique. Thusly, shows were created around well-to-do families, celebrity families, or families with multiple children, while workplace shows dealt in tattoos, motorcycles, hair styling, and house-flipping.

Coming in later than the game operas and relationship shows, these family and workplace programs ushered in a new phase of the Reality Revolution and set the stage for the future of reality programming.

If you have a leisure suit in your closet and think it'll never be in style again, you may be wrong. Everything has a way of coming back around, even game shows. With that in mind, Queen for a Day, a game show that ran in daytime for 20 years, is being resurrected for today. RDF USA has obtained format rights and plan to present their resurrected, revamped edition to cable and broadcast nets this week.

Queen for a Day was originally a radio show, but appeared on TV in 1947 and ran on and off until 1970. It was sort of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition of its day, albeit on a much more modest level. Female contestants would appear to tell her story of woe and misfortune in order to be eligible to become queen for a day, wherein she would win prizes, be feted with a crown and robe, offered roses and other gifts. "Make every woman a queen, for every single day," was the host, Jack Bailey's closing line each day. If it sounds hokey, it was. Comedy shows regularly satirized it.

A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.

The folks at RealityWanted.com often send us a list of new and existing reality shows that are looking for new, er, talent, and they've given us permission to make mention of them here. We'll try to make this a regular feature as often as we get a new list.

This time we have Trading Spaces, The Newlywed Game and other new shows.

A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.

The folks at RealityWanted.com often send us a list of new and existing reality shows that are looking for new, er, talent, and they've given us permission to make mention of them here. We'll try to make this a regular feature as often as we get a new list.

This time we have Big Brother, Trading Spaces, Over Your Head and other new shows.

Shark will swim again -- at least for the rest of this season. The future, however, remains unclear. CBS today announced that Shark will return on April 29 in a new timeslot. The network is switching the L.A. legal drama from Sundays at nine to Tuesdays at nine, where it may benefit from the strong lead-in of NCIS. Chances are that if Shark holds NCIS's ratings -- or improves on them -- that could mean more Shark for fall. If the show stumbles, CBS will likely pull the plug.

Fans of Shark may need to get more militant if they want to keep the show on the air. In a recent story we did about CBS renewals, there was fervent outcries for bringing back Moonlight and The Unit, even Cane. Out of 40 comments, only two came to Shark's defense. It may be a small sample, but still...

Reality rules at ABC -- or so it seems. Today the network announced that five "alternative" (their word, not mine) shows have been picked up for next season: Dancing with the Stars (no surprise), Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (still no surprise), Supernanny (understandable), Wife Swap (not too unexpected) and America's Funniest Home Videos (are you kidding me???).

Yes, yes, it's true. Even in this era of YouTube, there's an audience out there that still enjoys America's Funniest Home Videos. ABC has booked it for an 18th season, making it the longest-running primetime show in the network's history. Host Tom Bergeron will be back -- natch -- and more money will be awarded to the funniest videos, which are now DVDs.

A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.

The folks at RealityWanted.com often send us a list of new and existing reality shows that are looking for new, er, talent, and they've given us permission to make mention of them here. We'll try to make this a regular feature as often as we get a new list.

This time we have MTV's Spring Break, The Real World, Wife Swap, Splitsville and several new shows.

It was finally ABC's turn to unveil its winter schedule yesterday. There aren't many surprises in it except that Lost, as rumored, will now air on a new night and that Big Shots, who was benched last week, will get a fifth another chance. ABC's winter programming will also include the premieres of Cashmere Mafia, Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann, Eli Stone and Oprah's Big Give and the return of a few reality series, such as Supernanny and Wife Swap, to fill the void left when scripted series will have aired all their new episodes.

I'll admit it, I'm a fan of reality TV. However, there is a limit to what I'll watch. Lately, it seems that the networks are desperately creating new reality series. Maybe it's because they fear a writers' strike or maybe they just think we will actually watch?

Earlier today an unnamed major television network sent out a casting call for a reality series that will follow the planning of a Sweet 16 party!

A new DVD, American Idol: Unauthorized, takes aim at the Idol juggernaut, interviewing fans, critics, experts (in what, I'm not sure), and past contestants in an attempt to dig up and reveal behind-the-scene scandals and scoops.

I haven't viewed the doc, but according to this review, there's quite a bit of sour grapes whining coming from past Idol rejects. Scott Savol (Season 4) claims creative editing made him appear "lazy." Corey Clark (Season 2) whines about not getting a free hairstylist. And Julia Demato (Season 2) complains that some contestants were given more attention from vocal coaches than others.

Joel reported from the TCA event earlier this week that ABC is moving Dancing with the Stars to Monday night in order to dodge American Idol. I'm a little disappointed in that, simply because I wanted to see what would happen if the two were to go head to head. I think Idol would come out on top, but DWTS might be able to make a dent in their off-key armor.

Monday night is probably much safer for the DWTS ratings, but it might be the best news for fans of What About Brian. We've talked before about the struggles the show has had with growing an audience. This week found Brian and friends failing to draw even 5 million viewers once again. That's bad for a big three show. And worse, it makes it difficult to renew the series for another run next fall.