Suffering fools and surviving in the music business

I pity the fool who watches Mr. T’s new reality show, fittingly titled “I Pity the Fool.”

The idea is that the “A-Team” star helps regular people with professional and personal problems by prompting them to make changes in their lives.

The episode I caught the other night had Mr. T – who, by the way, has given up his bling – motivating employees at a car dealership to put on their game face and sell, sell, sell.

What I saw was anything but motivating. Mr. T probably isn’t the last person on Earth I’d buy a car from, but he’s no salesman.

Sitting in a small office with the very customers he was trying to sell a car to, Mr. T argued with the finance department over how low to go on the price of the car. But that was only part of it.

When looking for some detail to add to today’s column, I visited the TV Land Web site. A link called Rules for Fools caught my eye and I made the mistake of clicking.

The link features four 18-second clips of Mr. T giving advice on first dates, public speaking and hygiene.

Check it out for yourself at www.TVLand.com, and if you’re curious, “I Pity the Fool” can be seen on TV Land at 10 p.m. Wednesdays.

Last week I told you a little bit about “Jacob & Joshua: Nemesis Rising” on LOGO, a division of MTV Network.

My preview tape arrived in the mail, and I admit I was surprised that I found it intriguing.

The show follows Curb Records recording artists Jacob and Joshua Miller. The identical twin brothers from Montana make up the pop-rock group Nemesis, and the show records their attempt to survive in the music industry as they come out publicly about their sexual orientation.

Joshua is a free-spirited party boy who is very much single. His brother, on the other hand, is much more focused and is involved in a long-term relationship.

While it’s not something I would have stopped to watch without knowing what it was, I applaud MTV’s effort to bring real issues to reality television.

It’s along the lines of FX’s “Black. White.” in the sense that it deals with real-world issues.

“Jacob & Joshua: Nemesis Rising” premiered last week, but can be seen at 10 p.m. Mondays on LOGO.