To Catch a Basic Instinct

with all apologies to the legendary jerry seinfeld, WHAT is the deal with these hidden camera shows on the major networks? "to catch a predator," "basic instinct," and some as yet unknown knock off that fox will come out with 6 months from now are on EVERY week.

sure, it started out as an idea novel to the "news" industry. but with the expansion of the news magazine show format (thanks 60 minutes for getting us started, and thanks "primetime" for setting the bar so. fucking. low.), these shows are going the way of the sitcom: unoriginal and overexposed.

the first time i saw a bunch of hilljack dudes from georgia getting arrested after driving 3 hours to meet who they thought was a 13 year-old girl was very, very disturbing. 3 or 4 in the first show was shocking; shocking to know that pedophelia (or whatever the appropriate term is regarding early adolescents) is perpetrated by guys my age that look, at the very least, normal, and shocking to know that it's so prevalent. naturally, the shock value has all but disappeared once a viewer gets to the point where he knows exactly what's going to by said and how the whole thing will play out.

what does continue to amaze me, however, is that the producers seem to think they can pull a fast one on me with doozies like, "...but john doe is in for an even bigger surprise...", as if i've managed to forget the 60 guys that have been arrested on camera over the past 2 months.

sometimes networks need to know when enough is enough. and of course i'm directing this at MTV for the "real" world (and road rules), CBS (for CSI vegas, nyc, miami, anchorage, and branson), NBC for law and order, and fox for whatever shit they decide to put on next (simpsons, family guy excluded).

look, networks, we get it. when you have a successful show, you can duplicate and replicate it many times in a year, make a few extra bucks and set the advertising market for the following year. and then you wonder why your shows take a dive after 4 years. they become too predictable, at which point you, predictably, take the plots completely over the top, thereby alienating anyone that was once a fan. and then your show is shot and you cancel it. so please, network executives, do us all a favor and limit your hidden camera tricks to a once in a while special rather than a weekly series. 'cause if you keep it up, the only thing you're going to catch is the elevator to the ground floor after you've been fired for failing to produce sustainable results.