Aha! I knew the Germans would have a word for it. I asked Conny (Mrs. Nosuch) and she said the word was "erbarmenswert". She defines it as "so embarrassing to watch, makes you feel pitiful," and babelfish translates it as "pity-worthy". I was looking for the word because yesterday I idly watched some network television.

All these reality shows, and the word reality is used very lightly, generate in me a strong sense of erbarmenswert. It used to just be Jerry Springer and The Real World. Now there's Elimidate, Temptation Island, and a host of other nauseating programming. I've attempted to tune in for some hearty old-fashioned schadenfreude, but all I get is erbarmenswert. I understand the basis of the shows- get idiots to behave idiotically so our voyeuristic society can delight at their pain- but most of the shows feature people so clueless, pitiful, petty, and stupid, that they eliminate the possibility of enjoyment at their expense and go deep into the realm of being embarrassed that you share a species with them.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised- anyone with smarts enough to stay off the show is going to stay off the show. Who with half a brain is going to fall for the "come to our show and get a makeover/surprise your spouse is sleeping with your mom" switcheroo? What person who can eat without a bib thinks that the fame they'll get from Elimidate will be the good kind? The Real World, in particular, searches very hard for people who are willing to lose all of their dignity in front of the nation. Fortunately for me, if you add up three minutes spent watching each of these shows, I've not wasted more than a quarter-hour of my life on them. And I've never paid for cable, unless you count the cost of a socket wrench, super-glue, and fixative. So I guess I can't complain. But still, I worry about living in a society that watches this shit enough for there to be a Temptation Island 2, even after the couple with the kid was on. I think things won't improve until they take it to its logical conclusion, which includes death sports, "Who Wants To Be A Laughingstock?", and a show where viewers can vote electronically on which contestant gets the shit smacked out of them.