In your press release for this book you said: "Keep It Real spoofs the Reality TV genre.  Why did you decide it was worth spoofing? Two reasons:  It’s wildly popular, and it’s utterly ridiculous." Do you think reality television will remain popular and does that bode well for the world? Is this an heretofore unknown sign of the end times?  

As anyone who is familiar with my investment history can tell you, I lack the gift of foresight.  But since you asked, I will hazard a guess and say that depending on how broadly you define “Reality,” it will always be around.  Some of the (better) shows are really just juiced-up documentaries.  Others are closer to game shows, and I think that the appeal of those will be more cyclical.  An even bigger shift than the one from scripted shows to reality is the move from the three-network universe I grew up in to the million-channel one we live in now.   

Nothing except the Super Bowl and American Idol gets an audience that would have been considered a mark of success twenty years ago, when I started in TV.  And the few people who are still watching are using their Tivos to fast-forward through the commercials.  So I don’t know how TV is going to fix itself – maybe we need a troop surge.

What is the best and worst thing you have seen on reality TV? What was the best and worst product placement?  Is this book your way of rationalizing your own viewing of this program? Is this program truly worthless? 

I have four kids ranging in age from nineteen years to nine months, all of whom demand big chunks of my time.  I also like to play a lot of sports, read, work, surf porn, and pay attention to my wife – not necessarily in that order.  (But not necessarily not, either.)  

That’s all by way of saying that I haven’t watched enough reality TV to consider myself any sort of expert.  I watched the first season of The Apprentice – when there was actually a lot less product placement than in the subsequent versions – but it was still bad enough to give me TMJ Syndrome.  

As research, I did a number of interviews with lower-level reality producers, and the best story I heard involved a Survivor-type show in the Australian Outback, where the contestants supposedly had to hunt for food and water. But because one of the sponsors was a brand of depilatory cream, the hottest female contestants took time out from fighting for their lives to don their bikinis, hike to a nearby hot springs, and shave each other’s legs.  Would I call such a program worthless?  Hell no!  

Ironically, I was sent books by both you and Tom Straw to read and review. Straw and you have crossed paths before such as on the show Night Court, right? Why don’t you explain how you two know each other? Is it coincidence you both did novels related to television?