“The Real World Awards”
Wednesday 10pm, MTV
An entire master’s thesis could be (and probably has been) written on “The Real World,” analyzing its pop culture relevance as grandpappy to the reality TV craze and its early focus on legitimate social issues facing late-20th-century youth, and then dissecting its descent into a televised Petri dish filled with meatheads and skanks soaked in booze, casual sex and hate speech. In “honor” of its upcoming 20th season (this one’s set in Hollywood), MTV revisited some of the series’ “highlights,” and asked fans to vote for their favorites in a variety of categories like Favorite Season, Best Fight, Best Brush With the Law, and Best Phone Call Gone Bad. Expect most of the winners to come from the trashy post-Vegas seasons, since I doubt the people watching this show now even know who Judd, Pedro or Irene are.
“My Name is Earl”
Thursday 8pm, NBC
First Britney, now Paris Hilton. The celebutante formerly known as Prisoner 9818783 guest stars in this supersized episode of Jason Lee’s karma-minded sitcom. Although we still have to wait until next week for the return of the superior “Office” and “30 Rock,” it’s a relief to finally get some original NBC comedy on the air. “Earl” is a solid little show about a charming huckster (Lee as the title character) who learns a tough lesson about karma and then goes about making amends for all the shitty things he’s done in life. Lee is good, but the supporting cast really makes the show work, particularly Jaime Pressly, who went from Z-list starlet to an Emmy winner through her role as trailer park goddess Joy. Hilton apparently plays a vision Earl has after a near-death experience. If that lazy-eyed mug isn’t enough to make you go gunning for the sweet hereafter, I don’t know what is.
“Rock the Cradle”
Thursday 10pm, MTV
This could be legitimately interesting. The premise of this talent show is to explore whether or not musical talent is genetic, and so nine offspring of famous songsmiths take to the stage to show off their chops. The would-be stars trying to escape their parents’ shadows include Olivia Newton-John spawn and Bratz look-alike Chloe Lattanzi; Kenny Loggins’ son, Crosby; Jesse Blaze Snider, who sprung from the loins of Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider; A’Kieba Burrell, daughter of M.C. Hammer; Bobby Brown’s unfortunate-looking son, Landon; and a couple others you probably don’t care about. Frances Bean Cobain is sadly not a part of the group, but maybe next time. Judges will judge, viewers will vote, and one by one they’ll be picked off. You know the drill.
