Since Survivor first violated the air waves, we have been assaulted with a barrage of reality show competitions. These have included Big Brother, Lost (not to be confused with the scripted dramatic series), and The Bachelor/Bachelorette. I fought and I tried to avoid getting caught up in any of these shows. I have successfully eluded the grasp of the ‘talentless’ reality competitions, but tonight, I was sitting there flipping back and forth between Last Comic Standing and Rock Star, amidst commercials for America's Got Talent, thinking of how Rock Star’s results show might interfere with So You Think You Can Dance tomorrow. Thankfully, I believe Rock Star is on from 8-9pm and SYTYCD is on 9-10pm. I hope!

What is our fascination with these competition shows? Do we really like to see people fight for their dreams to come true, and upon seeing them do so, get hope that we might someday fulfill our own? Or are we just living vicariously through the competitors, too lazy to get off the couch and live our own lives? I will confess to a bit of both, hopefully the former more than the latter.

Perhaps in this ultra-politically correct era, these shows allow us to pass judgment when doing so is no longer generally acceptable. As human beings, I think we are naturally inclined to be judgmental. We do it from a sort of insecurity that urges us to deem others inferior so we can feel superior. In order to satisfy this desire, we watch shows where we are encouraged to pass judgment. It’s very satisfying!

Still, like with anything, moderation is the key. Right now, it’s pretty difficult to pick and choose which competitions to watch and which to avoid. Sure, I could DVR/Tivo all of them. But that would just be nuts, wouldn’t it?

Here’s an idea - They should have a competition for the best competition. It could be all the winners from all the shows - like Road Rules vs. Real World. Then we could just watch that and nothing else would be needed. They should then toss in guests from The Surreal Life and Supergroup and the like. What a semi-celebrity fest we would have. Maybe that would help us satisfy our need to judge without being Politically Incorrect.

That in turn might free us up to get out there and try something new. To make a difference in the real world (not the series. The actual Real World.) If not, we could escape for an hour into a really super spectacular TV show based on someone else. That might be enough to hold us over until we get ourselves ready for our shot in The Truman Show.