This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Reality TV was supposed to come and go like all of the other flavors of the week. But here it is the dawn of 2007 and what are we left with? "Armed and Famous." I'm not going to call it the first sign of the apocalypse, but don't be surprised if in some future episode Wee-Man gets called to a farm about a red calf being born.Satanic possibilities aside, the show is far from the worst reality offering that I have encountered. In my mind, celebrity based reality TV peaked with "Celebrity Mole: Hawaii" unfortunately, this is no "Celebrity Mole: Hawaii." It never rises to the sublime heights of "Celebrity Mole" or "The Surreal Life" but it also never plumbs the depths of American Idol's 14 weekly episodes.The casting decisions aren't bad. Even if I have no idea what she has done that would qualify her as famous, seeing Latoya (the crazy one) Jackson with a gun is compelling. And making Erik Estrada a real cop just might be the best bit of stunt casting since Paris Hilton was impaled on a giant pole in night shot then bukkaked on the poster of "House of Wax." The Network describes the first episode thusly: "The celebrities arrive in Muncie, Indiana to begin their training to become official reserve police officers. From their first meeting with the head of the Muncie police department, Chief Joe Winkle, the cadets realize they're no longer in Hollywood. Muncie's newest crime fighters are in for the challenge of their life as they learn about everything from firearms, hand-to-hand combat and what it's like to be on the receiving end of a taser gun. Upon completion of their training, the celebrities are issued badges and guns, partnered with veteran officers and immediately hit the streets. To these five celebrities, serving the people of Muncie is a tremendous honor, but will they be able to live up to the real life pressures of being ARMED & FAMOUS?" To answer all the questions that must be racing through your mind, yes, it does feel totally staged, yes there are arbitrary "uplifting" moments—like the sickeningly gratuitous episode closer where Trish Stratus, a former WWE star, ineptly tries to console a family after their house burns down. Yes Wee-Man does get shocked with a Taser and no, it's not that funny anymore. But, most importantly, yes, the stars are self deluded enough to actually be entertaining from time to time.Unfortunately, what should have been this show's core is totally passed over. By half way through the first episode, the whole gang is already certified police officers. This just seems like a waste. There is no way "Jack Osborne, police officer" is going to be as amusing as "Jack Osborne, wannabe police cadet." All we see of the training is the aforementioned Taser shocks, some boring and cursory gun and combat instruction and a pathetic and unfunny introductory lecture from the local police chief.Still, the show does have its' moments. Towards the end of the premiere, Estrada goes to arrest a crack dealer, (and by the way, who knew Indiana had so much crack? The show could almost be called "Celebrities in Crack City USA" but then, that brings to mind an entirely different program) who turns out to be a 75 year old woman who is thrilled to be arrested by "Ponch." She is maybe the most pleasant drug dealer of all time. So, that was fun.But the whole show doesn't hang together. There is no pacing. For example in the second segment there is, for no discernible reason, a scene of the celebrities trying to do laundry. Also, there are too many celebrities to follow. Wee-Man has screen presence, and Estrada and Jackson are amusing, but Osborne and Stratus are utter non-entities. This, coupled with the show's obviously staged early scenes is crippling.There is a good documentary to be made about the process of becoming a police officer, especially in this patriotism-hungry period. People are looking for heroes, and police and firemen could fill that need, but Erik Estrada and Wee-Man playing dress up with real guns just isn't going to cut it.

What a poor image of Professional Police Officers is displayed on the Television in the watching of this alleged Reality show. One can only hope that the actual reasonable suspicion that leads to probable cause that leads to the totality of the circumstances involved to make a "stop" , then the "Pat Down" of the outside of one's Garment, then to be able to articulate why the officer went into someone's pocket and retrieved contraband, was cut out of the scenes, because if it wasn't, the arrest in most places are going to be tossed, should they even get passed a supervisor. A report of a warrant over the radio does not constitute the actual existence of the warrant unless the person dispatching has the original warrant in hand. If the dispatcher is reading from a computer printout, it is good enough for an arrest, but it does not necessarily mean the warrant is still in effect. Since I haven't seen a Dis-claimer from CBS (I may have missed it), CBS could be in trouble.

The show is entertaining, I'll give it that. But the show isn't very real. Living in Muncie, I got to experience the show while it was happening. Wee-man signed autographs at Ball State University parties before checking ID's. One scene they claim took place at "Muncie's Police Training Academy" is actually the exterior of Muncie Central High School, and the room they use for training is actually the high school's wrestling room. Students working on the production team complained that the cast was less than friendly, and seemed stuck-up at times. This is all from the first episode. The Ball State Daily News will continue presenting stories about this, and hopefully, the show gets better.

Not an altogether bad start for the program -- but what a slap in the face to real law enforcement. The worst part of the series is that it attempts to bill itself as reality fare -- and is anything but. Men and women that dedicate their lives to the enforcement of laws deserve better than this. What is next, medical school in a minute? Charo performing lipo? Charles Grodin assisting on a hip replacement? C'mon...show a little respect. Even the citizens of Muncie are outing the program as staged. Police Academy = High School Gym? Poor editing (how many times can they use the car-to-car shot of the Taco Bell in the background?), cheesy siren effects (the same loop added ad nauseum to every 'call' whether rolling code or not), and last, but not least -- more officer safety issues than you could shake a stick at.If I want to see manufactured police work and wise-ass fake cops, I would watch RENO 911.