Ditka's Out, how about BIG BROTHER?

Popular state Senator Barack Obama, who has no major opponent for the US Senate race in Illinois after kinky millionaire Jack Ryan dropped out, breathed a huge sigh of relief on the news that Mike Ditka will not enter the race. Ditka, the well-known and foul-mouthed former Chicago Bears coach, was courted by state Republican officials after internet grassroots campaign DraftDitka generated a significant base of supporters.

Certainly being foul-mouthed is not a disqualifier for public office. Let's not forget Vice President Dick Cheney on the Senate floor last month who told Senator Patrick Leahy to fuck himself.

Nevertheless, Mike Ditka would have still faced a tough test running against Barack Obama, who is incredibly popular himself. In the end, skeletons in Mike's closet and the invasive and sometimes critical media probably scared him out of the race. Lucky for the Democrats. Now that Ditka's out, what about BIG BROTHER 5?

CBS' utterly affected and boring reality show on Tuesday (and other) nights is painful to watch. I feel myself getting dummer with each passing moment. Watching these self-important half-naked bimbo boys and girls with their lame tasks like ring toss make my eyes bleed. Time will tell how low American standards for TV has become. The premiere of BIG BROTHER 5 feted 4.8 million viewers in the key demo. Episode 2 had less viewers due to the All Star Game on FOX. Tonight may tell us how popular BB5 will be. However, let's not fool ourselves. BB5 is not getting canceled. It's cheap to produce and gets high niels: CBS' crystal meth.

But not all CBS reality is uninteresting. AMAZING RACE 5 premiered the same night as BB5. AR5 built on the strong lead-in an earned a whopping 5.5. This show is great; we all liked scavenger hunts as kids. This world scavenger hunt with regular adult contestants whom we can relate to in some way--combined with conflict each of us has faced in one form or another (running late, reading a map wrong, picking the right Tango dancer)--makes great network TV.

Speaking of great TV, if Emmy nominations are any guide, you don't find it on the broadcast networks but on HBO. Sign up.