CBC, hitting a new low.

As an ardent supporter of CBC Television and an occasional listener to CBC radio, I defend this public institution with vigour and verve when I can. I am proud that it distributes programs on TV like This is Wonderland, Twitch City, This Hour has 22 Minutes, Trudeau, Made in Canada and many others.

But when they decide to create an entire department devoted to adapting foreign reality-TV shows for Canadian production and distribution, and call it 'factual entertainment programming,' they're just giving me one more reason to never buy a TV again.

They promise not to pander to the lowest-common denominator by putting on shows like The Swan, but instead look to programs like Wife Swap (?!) to connect with Canadian communities?! Clearly, swapping a wife from Calgary with one from Toronto is going to help us understand our regional disparities? Why didn't I think of it? It's genius!

Bravo, CBC. I applaud your lack of creativity. Thank you for giving up on helping to create a better Canadian TV landscape by filling it with more mediocrity.

If I didn't know better, I'd say the idea to create this sort of department might have been some crazy scheme hatched from an Apprentice-type show. But I do know better, and this would be WAY too ironic for even my liking.