Summer Reality Check: Reality Shows Abound in the Summer Line Up

Oh, reality tv fans, your time has come! Those of us who simply can't get enough reality shows are in heaven during the summer television season as the big networks flock to the unscripted (yet carefully edited) world of reality. This year the networks are debuting 11 (12 if you count the August premiere of The Biggest Loser, I don't) reality shows, 5 of which are brand new. But here's a reality check for you, not all reality shows are created equal, and so I've broken them into three categories: The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Mean.

The Good

So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)

So You Think You Can Dance is the show that I look forward to most all summer long. Granted, I have been involved in dance as a student, dancer or teacher for 25 years, and I happen to think Mia Michaels' contemporary choreography is moving. It's the only show where ballroom dancers, ballerinas and b-boys can all square off on the same stage. Even if you're a newbie to the concept of dance, you can still appreciate the amount of hard work and talent the So You Think You Can Dance contestants display, and you can enjoy the reality show standard audition process complete with everyone's favorite bad auditions with a few touching life stories thrown in for flavor.

Creature Comforts (CBS)

You might be wondering how a show about animated animals could count as reality tv. When it's Chicken Run's Aardman Animations orchestrating claymation versions of real people's interviews, it's close enough for me! I know, Creature Comforts sounds like some executive has lost his mind. I mean, try to imagine someone listening to an interview saying "I like this, but it would be so much better if he were an ostrich." I have been watching the original British hit Creature Comforts for a while now on BBC America, and let me tell you, these guys not only know clay, they know comedy as well. If the American version of Creature Comforts is even half as good as its British brother, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Hell's Kitchen (Fox)