There were devastating moments in my childhood that would forever alter my view of pop culture. The first was learning that there was no Santa Claus. The second, and more impactful blow, was finding out that Johnny Carson didn’t write his own jokes.

It’s not that I was a big Johnny fan. He belonged to my parents. I was a Dave guy. But even those of us who were 10 years old knew that he represented the heights of show business. I think I was fantasizing about being a “Tonight Show” guest long before I was fantasizing about kissing a girl (yes, it was THAT kind of childhood).

It may seem silly now to be stunned to find out there are dozens of joke writers behind every late-night host. But I don’t think it’s silly to be disappointed that so much reality TV is manipulated with a heavy hand. My Sunday column on May 18 addresses this issue, most notably the tinkering I saw during the taping of “Last Comic Standing” here in Minneapolis a few months ago. Should we be stunned that the celebrity judges aren’t judging on their own? Should we be outraged that the “American Idol” judges sit in on rehearsals? SHould we be rioting in the streets because “The Hills” is about as contrived as a sitcom? Well, no, of course not. But let me suggest that we retire the term “reality TV,” bringing it out only when we’re dealing with TV that is purely a documentary.

What should we call it then? Any suggestions?

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.