The New York Times takes note of reality shows...........

"More than sex, more than violence, humiliation is the unifying principle behind a successful reality show, be it "The Real World," "Survivor," "Fear Factor" or "The Bachelor."

And there is much more ahead, from "The Will," an ABC reality show in which contestants compete for an inheritance, to "Exhausted," a Fox game show based on sleep deprivation. HBO is now hoping to top its rivals with a reality show as only HBO could do it: "Cathouse," which will be shown next month, put hidden cameras in a Nevada brothel. Viewers have shown an insatiable appetite for the queasy thrill that comes from watching an ordinary person suffer searing public embarrassment in exchange for 15 minutes of fame.

"Cathouse" proves, even more than "The Bachelor," that ordinary people want to be on television even if it means 15 minutes of shame.

Tonight, on the finale of "The Bachelor," Aaron chooses between the golden-haired ingénue Brooke and the sophisticated brunette Helene, who was cast as the brainy contestant. (In the land of the blond, the dark-eyed one is queen.) The ratings are expected to be among the highest of the year on any network.

ABC hopes to score again early next year with a distaff version: a Bachelorette will choose among 25 eligible men, but that does not have the same kick to it. Not, as the show's producers fret with ill-concealed glee, because viewers will brand her a slut for canoodling with several suitors, but because the sight of men competing over a woman is more accepted.

In our culture, there is still nothing particularly humiliating about a man pursuing unrequited love, but there is almost always something faintly ridiculous about a woman trying too hard. Cyrano de Bergerac was noble. Christi, the weepy, injured reject on "The Bachelor" (she is known on the show as the "Fatal Attraction" candidate) was closer to Charlotte Haze, the mother in Nabokov's "Lolita."

Which is why the most logical heir to Bachelor II is not "The Bachelorette," but the documentary-style "Cathouse." In matters of sex, there is at least one act that is still considered shameful: paying for it. Yet the very ordinary clients who were secretly videotaped range from a husband and wife who each wanted their own separate session with a hooker to a 22-year-old virgin whose mother sat in on the negotiations. "One thousand dollars?" she exclaimed as if negotiating the price of his first Brooks Brothers suit. "You owe me!"

The hidden cameras show a lot of negotiation, nervous laughter and explicit fondling, but cut away before any X-rated sexual act is performed. (Sometimes the camera pans to the row of egg timers ticking in the madam's office to keep track of each client.) Astonishingly, almost all the clients signed consent forms. (Three of 50 declined.) It turns out that in most people there is quite a lot of Suzanne Stone, the would-be television personality played by Nicole Kidman in the 1995 movie "To Die For," who memorably asked, "What's the point in doing something good if nobody's watching?"

"Cathouse," is scheduled to be shown on Dec. 8, right after the season finale of "The Sopranos" and in time for the holiday season."