Jess has something to say about the new SciFi “reality series,” Mad Mad House:

Remember back when reality television pretty much just consisted of sticking a bunch of quasi-attractive people in a house and filming them for a few months? Back then, there were no immunity challenges, no bachelors, no bachelorettes, no littlest grooms, no millionaires, no Amish teenagers gone wild, no makeovers, no obnoxious fiancés, no remodeled rooms, and no shocking twists. Things were so much simpler then.

I want to see Mad Mad house just see how the game is going to be played. Yes, I know it involves nooses and trapdoors, but I’m talking gameplay here, not method.

I miss the drama, the gratutity in MTV’s The Real World, which was, after all, a pioneering show in the business. I have a lot more things to do in my time than to live vicariously through the lives of others. I have enough drama to handle on my own.

In all the reality shows I have seen (myself being a television mini-dork) I liked Joe Schmo, some seasons of Road Rules and Real World, and currently, The Apprentice. To each his own, when it comes to these shows. However, I need to take note of the scammiest reality show that I have seen doesn’t involve scantiliy clad horny men and women. In fact it’s G-rated. It’s called Endurance II, and my nieces were held captive by that show every Saturday morning on Discovery Kids. It was pretty all right, up until the final “challenge,” which wasn’t really a challenge at all. From a show that winnowed down its participants based on skill and ability (or whatever, I couldn’t stand it, really), the resolution lay in a game of chance. A game of chance decided the outcome of “Endurance II.” That is such a godawful shame I couldn’t believe what I saw: my eldest niece taut as a violin string over the suspense of the possible outcome.

I didn’t want to burst my niece’s bubble. I let the kid be a kid, for once. She’ll have a chance to look back on it along the way, I hope.