The Hour is greater than the sum of its parts, which isn't to say that it's great, exactly. It has a lot of problems: anachronistic language; feet-planted speechifying, also rather anachronistic, about marriage and the …

Survivor: Ozzy v. Coach. I didn't care for Christine, so the success of Ozzy's bold move pleased me, but of course we won't hear the end of it until he's taken out — which, obviously, …

Jersey Shore. It's sort of interesting to see how the relationships and interactions in the house have evolved from typical Real World-y "who ate my pickles"/"fuck you"-type fare to, basically, office politics among co-workers at …

Fringe. Weird season so far. I went into last season thinking they'd have trouble making the two-universe storyline work, but they totally did. This season, I had no doubt that they'd make it work, and …

ANTM: All-Stars. I had tagged out of the show a few cycles ago because I couldn't take Tyra's unleavened self-aggrandizement. It's still egregious, but because the girls have gone through the process before, she can't …

"Shut Up, Hanson" count: 7
 
Generic high-school name du jour: Lincoln
The Plaintive Piano of Our National Pastime As Symbol of Sundered Innocence plinks as high-school pitcher Johnny Hartmann (Patrick Breen, a Hey, It's That Guy! who …

I'd ordinarily open a TV essay with a phrasing along the lines of "Has anyone else noticed that…?" or "Is it just me, or does this show…?" I can't do that on a Treme piece, …

Law & Order: D'Onofrionics.
Rocco's Dinner Party. I loved The Restaurant. Rocco's unique brand of petulant flabbery is riveting to me, for some reason. RDP isn't terribly promising, though; based on the single episode I've seen, …

Remember, we go live at 9 PM ET tonight — Wednesday 4 May — with a Q&A with author Jennifer L. Pozner. Bring questions, comments, and critiques of Chris Harrison!
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So sorry for the delay in announcing our next book, but we'll be reading Jennifer L. Pozner's Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth about Guilty Pleasure TV. It's available in paperback, as well as for …