I am – Hercules!!

Given the plummeting ratings attending “The Bachelor” and “Joe Millionaire” these days, it looks like the pick-a-mate reality fad may finally have run its course.

Still, I’d check out any reality show, NBC’s “Average Joe” included, hosted by the spontaneously hilarious Kathy Griffin, a reality maven who actually won the final edition of “The Mole.”

This is basically “The Bachelorette” with a tiny, 25-year-old former beauty queen and NFL cheerleader named Malena Scantlin (she claimed she preferred personality over looks) picking a mate from 16 guys who look like they spend a lot of time at home on the couch ogling cheerleaders.

The Hollywood Reporter says:

She weeds the dudes down to a final "winner," but it's not certain what he's won other than a chance to ultimately be rejected on national television. We're also operating from a flawed premise to begin with. Because the woman was expecting gorgeous and instead wound up with exceedingly ordinary, we now get to watch her cringe and go through the motions for a lengthy period. … Melana looks mortified upon eyeing her would-be suitors for the first time. This obviously ain't what she signed up for. There's some undeniable humor in that. And we're assured that a few weeks from now, a delicious twist will muddy the waters and stack the deck further. Too bad that "Average Joe" feels so entirely contrived and manufactured. You can just see the producers pushing the buttons out of camera range, making sure to insert the proper amount of bonding, rivalry and discomfort.

Variety says:

… after you get past "Average Joe's" big moment you wonder if anyone other than dweeby network execs and producers will be motivated to stick around for the ride. … Rather than let "Third Watch" keep getting pasted by "CSI: Miami," NBC probably is making a smart move by tossing a semi-scripted program into this hour, where it has the chance to do reasonably well with a pretty good inherited lead-in from "Las Vegas."

10 p.m. Monday. Fox.

I am – Hercules!!

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