@Yminale As for the rest, well Americans are bullies and in order to feel better they have to put someone else down. These un-celebrities are really scapegoats. People watch them so they can feel good about themselves and ignore or play down their own problems.

Luckily such attributes would never show up on Salon.

Not too bad, Heather, but they're are some problems with the article right from the get go. For one, when have stars been "out?" Magazine covers and advertising say otherwise (it doesn't matter HOW popular "Octo-mom" gets, she ain't gonna move covers of Vogue) Likewise, Heidi Montag's music career and clothing line have failed.

Secondly, are these yahoos really "regular ordinary people?" It's not a big secret these days that The Hills is so heavily choreographed that it out to have a Sondheim score. Likewise Jon and Kate's life has been given a Hollywood rewite (Makeovers! Mansions! Nannies! And that's among allegeations about how much time they actually spend with the kids.) I thought it was a practically a cliche that many of these people are more unpaid (or underpaid) performers rather then "real" people (which is why, of course these shows continue to be popular with producers, even when they don't do well. These silly shows probably still cost less then, say, Jennifer Aniston's salary.)

Finally, this article fails to note that, like The Greatest Show on Earth, many of these people and shows they are on are based on unadulterated hype. In THAT sense, the gossip media isn't really all that differet from the news media after all (which is why I don't agree with the notion that we should dimiss this spectacle out of hand when it can be used as a study of how the media actually works.) Many of these people aren't as "big" or "triumphant" as the gossip conglamorates (in tandemn with these "stars" overworked PR flacks.") say they are.

Re:anitacrane "WHY are they "unable to resist feeding themselves into the treacherous and soul-crushing gears of the new uncelebrity branding machine"?

When you are an untalented nutcase with little economic oppurtunity (oh look, commentary!), what ELSE are you going to do? Keep in mind that with their 198,765 children, super-breeders like Jon&Kate and Octo-mom couldn't actually support them WITHOUT shamelessly whoring themselves. If you had a choice between crushing debt and food stamps or much needed nannies and resources that these shows provide, would that really be a hard choice? Even for a-holes like Heidi and Spencer, if they are going to escape their inevitable destination of Wal-mart greeter, they are going to have to become hustling huckster. Because striping yourself of your dignity is probably STILL considered better then not being able to pay bills. Not to be a D-list Paul Krugman, but notice that as our economy gets worse, that more and more of these "uncelebrities" come out of the woodwork.

Re:mattielisbon "But you know, if we ALL didn't watch it, it would go away."

Not neccisarily. First of all, keep in mind that their are many reality shows that AREN'T being watched. People always make that mistake with certain aspects of pop culture, that if something is being watched or listened to, then EVERYTHING in that sub-genre is successful as well. (i.e "Britney is popular, thefore every Britney clone is equally popular).

Of course, as mentioned earlier, these "unscripted dramas" are relatively cheap to produce as compared to actual shows with actors. So even if they do fail, they aren't risky investments, and they usually premiere on low-level cable networks, so expectation don't have to be that high.

Finally, I have to agree with a few other commenters here in stating that people like Adam Labert and Susan Boyle, aren't exactly the same group as Lauren Conrad and her ilk. They are talented performers trying to get their "big break" so they can move on to "legitimate" careers. That's different then a bunch of brats who just want free tickets to the VMAs and further reality shows.

I can't believe some people fell for this. The faux-outrage is a scam. Carrie Prejean...I mean Sarah Palin is just trying to keep her name in the media without having to talk about that oh-so hard "political" stuff she usually fails at.

MSNBC right now is devoting a huge chuck of it's airtime to what's basically a dressed-up Us Weekly tidbit. It's ridiculous! (And funny how Sarah Palin loves getting into public spats with people who don't really matter in the long run. After all comedians make "inappropriate" jokes all the time. Many public figures would have just ignored it because they actually have work to do. She'd probably get more "respect" if she got back to running her state as oppose to appearing on TV 5,984 a month.)