Two Sour Notes for You

Two news items today gave me chills:

• This year's Emmy broadcast will have pairs of TV stars, including Donald Trump, Megan Mullalley, and (gulp) William Shatner singing TV theme songs. Viewers will be able to vote for the best performance either via text messaging or CBS' web site. The format is being dubbed "Emmy Idol". I dub it "Tone Deaf Theatre" or "Yet Another Reason Why I Never Watch the Emmys".
• FOX is producing a reality show called Skating With Celebrities, where professional figure skaters will pair up with B- through Z-list celebs like Todd Bridges, Dave Coulier, Bruce Jenner, and Debbie -- ur, Deborah -- Gibson in a contest with a similar format to ABC's summer surprise Dancing With The Stars. That does it: the reality genre has officially become too dangerous. How many epidsodes is it going to take before it becomes Walking on Crutches with Celebrities?