"JohnBoy" from Los Angeles writes:

Hey guys,

My name is John and I work for the company that produces, "American Idol" and tons of other primetime network television programming. Right now I'm working on a show called' "Farmer Wants a Wife!" The best way to describe this show is The bachelor on the farm. We are searching America for a single (23-29) male farmer who's interested in having 10 hot single women from the city come to his home farm. The town that host's this production will benefit in many ways as well as we'd be filling local hotel rooms and local restaurants with our crew of about 50 folks. If anyone knows of a farmer who'd be willing to meet 10 hot sexy single woman who are looking to leave the city life, please email me at: johnkennamann@mac.com

I expect that instead of "reality-tv," we will just solidify our stereotypes of two types of people. The young, studly farmer: fair-skinned, blond-haired farm boy entertains himself during the day by throwing hay bales and gets down at the country line dance bar in the evening. "Farmer Trent" on the Australian version of the show.The dainty, foul-mouthed city girl shows up to farm in high-heels and is disgusted by the thought of real work, cow excrement, and open spaces, but definitely isn't afraid to throw punches at the first fellow competitor who "fronts on her business."

But maybe I'm just stereotyping the reality tv industry? I must admit, I would give the show an hour of my time if only to see what kind of people would do this!

The rest of the forum had more feedback for JohnBoy:

"I'm sorry, but reality shows make me vomit. I'll take my reality straight, thank you." -Ellendra

"A warning to anyone wanting to participate in these sort of things - You will NOT be portrayed as you really are in everyday life. The goal of the show IS to make you look silly. And the reason as a "real farmer" that you don't want to get involved; the chores that take you four hours to do at sunrise will take you 10 hours to complete for the sake of 'getting the right camera angle'." -MOOREHAVEN

"I don't think they realize that the average farmer is far older than 30 and likely does not have '6 pack Abs'." -Lucy Goodman Boulder Belt Eco-Farm Eaton, OH

"There is a continuous perpetration of the myth of farmers being unsophisticated, uneducated and happy-go-lucky boobs and TV loves to make fun of people and make them look stupid. " -Teauteau

Click here to read the whole "Farmer Wants a Wife!" thread.

More links:

• This show is a little further along in Australia.
• Online farmer-to-farmer dating.
• Farmer Wants Wife in Nebraska's Lincoln Journal Star

There's a lot to uncover here -- the uncomfortable intersection of rural and urban America, love and marriage in the 21st century, and the very real problem that it is hard to find an understanding mate when you are working all the time and geographically isolated. This started out as a somewhat humorous post on the shallowness of reality TV, but it is leaving me thinking..

Any thoughts? Feel free to leave your comments below.