2 Things. Probably more.

1. Britney Spears and Mrs. Federline-Spears are making their own reality tv show, apparently. Now instead of just occassional spots on VH1, the grateful public will get regular glimpses of their moronic and dubious relationship. Sing from the rooftops!

2. The Boy and I (for some reason) really like the Discovery show, American Chopper. We're not really the kind of people that watch a motorcycle building show regularly, I think. BUT... American Chopper has about the best interpersonal exchanges and relational dynamics of any reality show I've ever watched. Honestly. Again... that is probably not the reason it's popular with people in huge trucks.

Cast:

Senior - massivly muscled middle aged shop owner. Soft on his younger son, Mikey, and hard as crowbar on his older son, Pauly. Senior has a very "old school dad" feel. Deleriously happy? The corner of his handlebar mustache twitches. Grouchy? EVERYONE RUN.

Pauly - Older son (31). Fantastically brilliant chopper fabricator. Regular guy, with a wife and little daughter. Does his own thing in the shop, and almost without fail, it turns out beautifully. Most of the time, he manages to be completely deaf when his father is bellowing at him from 2 feet away. Sometimes loses his cool and bellows back.

Mikey - younger son (20s). Plays the idiot, because he knows it means he can get away with not working and most times, Senior ends up snorting and trying not to laugh instead of raging. I can't decide if he's really as shallow and incompetant as he seems, or if it's some sort of defense mechanism against his father taking him seriously and treating him like Pauly.

Vinnie - complete saint who steadily and quietly works away with Pauly while Senior stomps and rants around the shop. Close friend of Pauly's.

Rick - basically ditto of above, except he and Pauly are not as close.

Mike - Some schmuck from the shop who occasionally shows up on the show and tries to steamroll the design so he can hotdog for the camera and get on Senior's good side. Perfectly willing to step on anyone he thinks he can get away with stepping on. Even not being a fabricator, I can see his work is shoddy, and his ideas generally suck.

Having seen enough of the show to have a bit of a handle on the relationships, you begin to appreciate smaller things:

Senior's 1974 Sunshine chopper is dragged out for restoration, and Senior takes a long look at it. His ears turn pink, and you know how incredibly proud he is of that bike, and how much he's loved it. He refers to it in the feminine. In some respects, he's very like my dad.

Senior goes ballistic because he suddenly decides there are too many drinks around the shop. He roars something about severe consequences, and forces everyone to pick up pop cans etc before they can continue the bike they're working on. Later, he feels bad, but instead of apologizing, he hovers a bit near the build, asking Pauly questions about his plans in a slightly sheepish way. Very dad-like.

In any case, I recommend seeing the show at least a few time to appreciate the priecless familial interactions.