I am – Hercules!!




Before Stephen Baldwin found Jesus in 2001, he was the star of Bryan Singer’s superb, acclaimed big-screen mystery thriller “The Usual Suspects.”

Since Baldwin gave up substance abuse for a faith-based lifestyle, God has willed him to demonstrate his lack of brainpower on a string of reality shows, among them “Celebrity Mole” (in which he was outwitted by Frederique van de Wal and Erik von Detten), “Celebrity Apprentice” (in which he was outwitted by Lennox Lewis and Carol Alt) and “Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge” (in which he got stepped on by a bull).

In the next few weeks we’ll learn if Baldwin brings further shame to his more successful brothers via NBC’s “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here,” in which he’ll compete against fellow reality-show vets Heidi Montag (“The Hills”), Spencer Pratt (“The Hills”), John Salley (“He’s A Lady”), Janice Dickinson (“The Surreal Life”) and Sanjaya Malakar (“American Idol”), as well as scripted-TV vet Torrie Wilson (“WWE Smackdown”) and former first lady of Illinois Patricia Blagojevich.

We’ll be seeing a lot of “I’m”; it runs Monday through Thursday tonight through its June 24 finale.

America will vote the “celebrities” off the show one at a time. The contestants receive a five- or six-figure paycheck for every episode in which they appear (not all the contestants are paid the same), so they’ve got plenty of motivation to stick around.

I was more than a little surprised when, following a six-year hiatus, NBC decided to mount a second U.S. season. Hopefully NBC will learn from ABC’s failure and mount a better product.

Apparently a much bigger deal outside the United States, “I’m” saw its first U.S. edition air on ABC between Feb. 19 and March 5, 2003. A dancer once married to Jennifer Lopez, Cris Judd, won. It was terrible, but I was compelled to watch every episode, and I suspect I’ll again be watching every episode this year.

8 p.m. Monday. NBC.

And remember: talkbackers who claim they’ve never followed a reality show are trying to make everyone forget that time mom caught them masturbating to “Breaking Bonaduce.”

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