This week the cast for the new season of Basketball Wives was released. This reality TV guilty pleasure is on its fourth season, which means they’ve got to be doing something right. But as I flipped through the new cast roster, I realized that NONE of them are even actually the wives of these NBA athletes. They’re all either ex-wives, baby mamas or ex fiances. Really, VH1? C’mon, get some actual wives to be on the show Basketball Wives. I guess at the end of the day, this all makes for better TV, which is fine by me because reality television is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. But seriously, there are women out there who are legally married to men with far superior professions.

In the spirit of this new season of Basketball Wives, I can’t help but think about these other wives who would be just as interesting — if not more so! — than those featured in the VH1 hit. Sometimes the most common of jobs can be the most fascinating. I now present you with eight shows that I think need to be filmed immediately and broadcast to millions of reality TV junkies such as myself. What do you think?

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Katie is finishing up her undergrad at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. She enjoys wasting hours on Facebook and tweeting things no one cares about. When asked the question, “Do you do marathons?” She promptly responds, “Of course! Which show?” Follow her @KatieGarrity! Or read her blog here!

[Lead image via Luis Louro/Shutterstock]

There’s no doubt that the Greek system is a huge institution in America. Almost every university has at least a few sororities and fraternities, and, at many schools, the Greek system is the biggest part of student life. But it doesn’t really exist anywhere outside America. Until now. A new reality show on TLC is following a group of girls as they try to change that. I think everyone, regardless if they’re in a sorority or not, can enjoy this one.

In Sorority Girls, which debuted this week, a group of American women head over to the UK to start Sigma Gamma, England’s first sorority. And the results are pretty hilarious. Please, please watch this video from the premiere episode. You need to hear one of the girls use the term “slooter cahooter” instead of “slut.” It actually made me laugh out loud. Alone. At my computer. It was so ridiculous that I actually had to wonder if it may have been scripted.

Tell us what you think! Is it a good idea to bring the Greek system to the UK? And would you ever call someone a “slooter cahooter”?

Garnet is a student at Columbia University in New York City. She is “that person” who starts dancing at a party when everyone else is standing around, and if there were a Facebook stalking Olympics, she would be a gold medalist. She also has a love for cheesy 90s music, and almost died of happiness when Vanilla Ice tweeted at her. Once. Follow her on Twitter @garnethenderson.

Simon Cowell might be a jerk, but he sure is good at making popular TV shows. He’s the man behind American Idol, America’s Got Talent, and The X Factor, along with about a million other shows internationally. And he’s just announced that his newest project will be a DJ competition show.

Simon is teaming up with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith to create the show. Apparently, BET has already had a similar series running for two years. But Simon is talking to bigger networks like Fox and NBC to try and make this idea his next big thing. He says that “DJs are the new rockstars,” and that he wants to make DJs just as famous and recognizable as pop stars.

What do you think? Will this show be the Next American Idol, or are Simon, Will, and Jada wasting their time?

Surprise, surprise: Thursday’s season five premiere of Jersey Shore collected a million viewers less than the first episode of last season, when the cast was in Italy. Some people argue that they’re sick of watching these same eight people, I argue that there’s too many extraneous characters to keep track of, especially if you’ve just tuned in…seriously, everyone looks incredibly similar!

Don’t worry, this will clear everything up. Meet all the extra people that keep stealing the airtime away from Sammi Sweetheart, The Situation, Snooki and the rest of the original cast. Once viewers are all up to speed, these guidettes and gorillas will remain on the air as long as the Kardashians do!

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Who from the cast, original or extended, seriously needs to go?

Ashley is a UC San Diego grad who is holding on way too tightly to a potential career in magazines and goes to Vegas all too often. She’s fascinated with celebrities and strawberry beer and doubles as a pathological texter/emailer/blogger. Feed the addiction with tweets @cashleelee. Thanks in advance.

Attention all guidos and guidettes: Jersey Shore is back! And even if we hate to admit it, us non-Jersey folk are just as excited. Snooki, Sammi, Vinny and the rest of the gang are back on the air January 5th with the premiere of their fifth season (which boggles my mind). Now, I know some of you are probably rolling your eyes and writing me off as a valuable source for entertainment recommendations, but hear me out! Jersey Shore may not have any intellectual value, but it is extremely entertaining. And if anything, you can watch these people get drunk at the shore and make complete fools of themselves and feel better about your own life! Yay!

It’s hard to believe they are already on their fifth season, but people (myself included) will definitely tune in to watch. If you’re still not convinced that this show is worth an hour of your time, allow me list some reasons why it is.

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Katie is finishing up her undergrad at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. She enjoys wasting hours on Facebook and tweeting things no one cares about. When asked the question, “Do you do marathons?” She promptly responds, “Of course! Which show?” Follow her @KatieGarrity!

I’ll admit it: I’m an addict. It’s a horrible habit that, after so many years, I just can’t kick. It’s available, it’s affordable and, hey, it makes me feel good about myself. And even though it’s probably damaging for me in the long run, I just can’t stop.

Yeah, I’m a consumer of the Kardashian culture. I watch the shows (the originals, the spin-offs and Dancing With The Stars when one is competing), I read the interviews, I follow the obnoxious tweets. And recently, people like Daniel Craig, Jonah Hill and Barbara Walters are calling me out on my fascination with the most overexposed and yet untalented people on television, the Kardashians. I jumped on the family bandwagon relatively late, actually. I initially denied the attraction to what Barbara Walters referred to as “a strange mix of trashy sex, upscale excess, tabloid melodrama and suburban family life” — though the balance of these ingredients varies with each episode, depending on which siblings are in them. But when Lamar Odom proposed, Reggie Bush called it quits, and Mason was born, my interest was officially peaked for some reason. I was suddenly intrigued by these people who are so famous, and for the life of me, I seriously could not remember why.

Is it really because the late Robert Kardashian was OJ Simpson’s lawyer and friend? Because Bruce Jenner is an esteemed Olympian? Because Kim Kardashian was partying with Paris Hilton during her heyday and recording her sex-capades with Ray J — Brandy’s brother? I guess that by putting all of those famous-by-association factors together, and adding Kris Jenner as a manager and Ryan Seacrest as a producer, these people are worth watching. Over and over again. Why?!?

Daniel Craig of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Casino Royale doesn’t understand it either. ”Look at the Kardashians, they’re worth millions. Millions!” he told British GQ in their January 2012 issue. “I don’t think they were that badly off to begin with, but now look at them. You see that and you think, ‘What, you mean all I have to do is behave like a f*cking idiot on television and then you’ll pay me millions?‘”

Jonah Hill — who, in Superbad and Get Him To The Greek, often acts like an idiot (with the exception of Moneyball) — feels the same way, but for different reasons: he actually watches the shows. He openly admitted that he felt duped when Kim Kardashian announced her plans to divorce Kris Humphries because, like so many of us, he bought into that gaudy and god awful wedding display. He ranted to The Huffington Post about the infamous family earlier this week:

“I have friends who work in TV and the Kardashians get higher ratings than their TV shows. Shows that people actually work hard on — writing and creating and trying to tell stories. The fact that the Kardashians could be more popular than a show like ‘Mad Men’ is disgusting. (Laughs) It’s a super disgusting part of our culture, but I still find it funny to make a joke about it. Whenever I say I like reality TV, people write about it like they’re in shock. I can’t even understand it, so I watch it. I think it’s funny and I definitely enjoy it in a making-fun-of-it sort of way, but where does the line sort of end? When do I stop making fun of it and become an actual fan?“

I personally don’t know. I’m confused about it all. And I’ve often wondered if they actually see it all as “working” when they punch mirrors, wax each other’s vaginas, lose $75,000 earrings while swimming in Bora Bora and then conveniently find them again once the cameras are pointing another way. Seriously, such scheming takes skills!

So finally, after ranking the Kardashian family as a whole one of the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2011, Barbara Walters sat down with Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and mother Kris, and asked them flat out: “You don’t really act; you don’t sing; you don’t dance…you don’t have any — forgive me — any talent!”

And then Khloe, the voice of reason within that crazy clan, revealed the truth that no one wanted to actually acknowledge: “We’re still entertaining people…None of us think we have talent. None of us think we can sing or act or dance.”

But they do call themselves businesswomen. They’re spokespeople, fashion buyers, “perfumistas” even…and now they have a store at The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas called Kardashian Khaos that sells anything and everything with their names and faces on them. Shockingly, it’s not full of cricket sounds; paying customers are lining up to actually buy their licensed merchandise. Maybe they’re Midwestern Americans looking for a souvenir of Los Angeles celebrity lifestyle; maybe they’re foreigners stocking up on pieces of American culture. Because no matter how you look at it, or whether you’ve been looking away all this time, this random family is famous for being famous, and they’re now forever part of American pop culture.

“I think it’s more of a challenge for you to go on a reality show, and get people to fall in love with you for being you,” Kim said to Barbara Walters. But Kris Humphries filed for an annulment on account of fraud, and he’s got some pretty good grounds…who says you’re even really being “you” at all??!?

After hearing criticisms from Daniel Craig, Jonah Hill and Barbara Walters, I’m kicking my addiction; but I’m only continuing to watch to find out if they’re all for real. From watching the preview, I think that the next episode will be pretty revealing of their true character, right? Plus, it looks kinda funny.

Do you Keep Up With The Kardashians? Okay, seriously…WHY?!?

Ashley is a UC San Diego grad who is holding on way too tightly to a potential career in magazines and goes to Vegas all too often. She’s fascinated with celebrities and strawberry beer and doubles as a pathological texter/emailer/blogger. Feed the addiction with tweets @cashleelee. Thanks in advance.

In a recent Huffington Post article, Angelina Jolie admitted that there is always a possibility she and Brad could have another baby.  Now while some people may say, “Whoa Angie! Slow it down, you’ve already got like…twenty, right?” I beg to differ. Go for it, girl! I’d be more than happy to see the Jolie-Pitt clan expand a little more.

Here’s a list of ten reasons why Angelina should definitely consider adding another member to her family.

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Katie is finishing up her undergrad at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. She enjoys wasting hours on Facebook and tweeting things no one cares about. When asked the question, “Do you do marathons?” She promptly responds, “Of course! Which show?” Follow her @KatieGarrity!

When you look up reality TV on Wikipedia, at the bottom of the page it says, “See Also: Low Culture.” Umm, what? Low culture, Wikipedia? You think because I sit around on holidays watching Dance Moms marathons and almost every night I have a huge list of reality shows clogging up my DVR that I’m low culture? Excuse me, but I watch Top Chef. Gourmet Food=High Culture. I have also seen a few episodes of Work of Art. Art is high culture, wouldn’t you say, Mr. Wikipedia Man?

So obviously I admit to watching reality TV, and I’m totally not ashamed. But there are some reality stars that I am a little ashamed to admit that I love. I’m not talking about Spencer and Heidi or Omarosa; I actually do hate them. These are stars that I really love, but would probably lie about any day of the week (except the days I’m given a lie detector test).

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Oh reality TV, how you have gotten me through many a rough patch in my life, many a break up, many a late night binge fest…really any low point in my life. I’ve been with you since the first Real World appeared on MTV, to the horrible escapades of a young Jessica Simpson, I’ve seen it all.

However, in the last year or two you’ve taken a turn for the worst. For instance, how could you let the regular fame hungry people who star in your shows rub elbows with Justin Timberlake…I’m sorry but that just isn’t right. Not one bit.

In hopes to rekindle my love with you, I’ve prepared a list of my favorite old shows, some of which are still on the air. Let us please forget the mistake of letting the Kardashians’ have ten shows, seeing Jon get hair plugs and giving people who spray tan daily their own show.

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Some celebs design fashion lines. Former Playboy girlfriend Bridget Marquardt, who showed us on E!’s reality show The Girls Next Door that she’s always been a little different from the rest, has launched her own line of Halloween costumes.

It makes sense: Playboy girls are pretty much the queens of playing dress up; it’s part of their job. A few years ago, Bridget modeled a line of licensed Playboy Halloween costumes, alongside Holly and Kendra. This year, “The Queen of Halloween” partnered with Roma Costume to create Bridget by Roma, aka 18 outfits that hope to put Party City to shame.

But it’s not just your average, sexed up set of crop tops, miniskirts and animal ears (though that is in there, of course). There’s also the “Peachick” (yes, a sexy peacock), “Secretary” (which looks like a Forever 21 attempt at a business suit over a generous push-up bra) and “Fruit Cup” (watch out for when others mistake your boobs for real food—it will happen).

The best of the costume collection? “The Smoking Bachelor,” a female version of Hugh Hefner himself. We say take the costume to the next level by carrying a pack of Viagra around with you all night. You know, as a prop.

Click through all the costumes online or watch the short film below, complete with every single costume, absolutely no lines and an attempt at authentic creepiness:

With Halloween just over a week away, are Bridget’s costumes worth the rush shipping? And would it be super tacky if I reused that “Ringmaster” costume for a New Year’s Eve outfit at the club? No? Awesome.