When dumb TV theories attack

The L.A. Times floats a breathtakingly stupid theory - that our lousy economy is turning viewers off of reality TV. "As the Dow continues to spiral down and jobs dry up, viewers may have decided that their everyday lives already contain more reality than they can bear," the piece concludes.

Well, you have to write about something, I suppose. And so I'll write about this.

("It is easier for a couple of morons to pass through the eye of a needle than for a reality program to enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 19:4)

First: Who in the world at this late date mistakes reality TV for reality? Even putting aside the heightened, overheated behavior on these programs, the fact so many of the shows offering rich purses for the winners of competitions would tend to nudge them towards fantasy, anyway.

Second: Even the Times admit they're discussing shows that have been on for a while and/or overexposed and, therefore, shows one would expect to lose some steam in the ratings. But the article in particular wrings its hands over the sorry fate of Fox's "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?", without bothering to mention the fact that the show has been moved from Thursdays to Fridays this season, when far fewer people are watching TV.

Third: The notion that only scripted shows on the broadcast networks have seen an uptick in ratings - and only a slight one at that - has nothing to do with the argument and can be explained away by other things, such as most of the improved shows are relatively young, or Tina Fey's higher profile this fall elevating "30 Rock" or the hellacious marketing campaign lavished upon "Gossip Girl."

(And anyway, who says that "Gossip Girl" doesn't reflect reality? Oh, that's right - everybody.)

Fourth: It's yet another broadcast-network-centric story that while acknowledging that broadcast numbers are down in general, ignores the full TV spectrum. But maybe because that would torpedo the premise: Reality programs on, say, Bravo and Sci Fi (reality on Sci Fi? I'm still trying to get my head around that notion) are enjoying their highest ratings to date.

So, Mr. L.A. Times, sorry, but I don't see any evidence of a cause/effect between our cratering economy and a few reality programs suffering. Though, honestly, I'd be happy if anything could kill them off.

UPDATE: A subhead from today's Daily Variety: "ABC, NBC see boost in reality fare"