It's pretty cliche to say this, but I miss the MTV of my youth when The Real World starred idealistic people who spent their energies debating issues rather than trying to top each other in terms of drinking, bedhopping and yelling the loudest. With a few exceptions, MTV is now the network that airs shows that I end up hating myself for watching. I know I shouldn't tune in, but sometimes they come up with a concept I can't help but check out. And then I can't stop watching until the whole thing is over.

Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to keep myself from checking out their new Brody Jenner-focused series, Bromance. The series will see several guys competing to join Jenner's entourage and fill "the (Spencer) Pratt void". Bormance will mirror reality dating shows in that the reward for doing well in a competition will be a group date or alone time with Jenner. Each episode will have a "Hot Tub Elimination Ceremony" where the rejectees "will be asked to leave the bachelor pad dripping wet in a swimsuit". How can I pass on something like that?

On the other hand, with so many homoerotic undertones, a part of me worries that Bromance will play to homophobic humor to re-establish Jenner's manliness. (I've managed to skip all of Jenner's other reality shows, so please fill me in on the likelihood of this happening.) Still, if Bromance includes regular scenes of guys tearfully declaring how they value Jenner's friendship (the same way those trainwreck dating shows have contestants who insist they're totally in love with Tila Tequila or Flavor Flav after knowing them for just a few days), it'll have me addicted through the first season.

Yikes, somebody get Dr. Drew to give me a call before Bromance debuts.

Recently an Australian journalist put an interesting question to Hot Fuzz leads Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, whom some folks might know from the wonderfully funny zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead:

There are moments in your TV series Spaced and a scene in Hot Fuzz where it seems like your characters might start kissing passionately. Is that deliberate or does it just happen?

Nick Frost: I think a lot of it is me gazing at Simon's mouth throughout that scene.

Simon Pegg: A lot of those movies like Lethal Weapon, Point Break, Bad Boys, where there's two male leads, there's always sort of a romantic chemistry between them. It's easy to reduce it to a gay subtext. I think it's more complex than that - it is about a kind of love, but it's also about that dilemma of straight guys who cannot emote to another man. It's almost sad in a way. But in Hot Fuzz the romance is definitely between Danny and Angel.

One of the things that impressed me most about Shaun was the bond between the male leads (my review of the film was titled "Brideshead Reanimated"). While the men are obviously straight, they also clearly love one another very much -- and more importantly, they don't stoop to respond to gay-baiting enemies who make implications about their relationship.

The film really stood out as a "next step" in buddy movies -- guys who aren't afraid of contact or of showing affection, and who don't consider being called "gay" an insult that requires a defense. It looks like this enlightened perspective might have found its way to cop caper Fuzz as well. The movie's gotten stellar reviews thus far -- check out this promising trailer for more: