As Harry Potter fans know, during a game of Quidditch the player known as the Seeker desperately tries to capture a small flying ball called the Golden Snitch. When the Seeker succeeds, he scores a whopping 150 points for his team and the game ends.

Meanwhile, there’s all this other frenetic and suspiciously pointless Quidditch-related activity going on. Aside from the Seekers, each team has six others players (dubbed Chasers, Beaters and a Keeper) who fight over an entirely different ball (the Quaffle) and try to get that ball through small hoops at ends of the field.

If they succeed, they score a mere 10 points and the game continues.

Author J.K. Rowling established these wildly unpractical rules for her alleged team sport in her first Potter book and she likely has no regrets. Since the Seeker has the awesome power to (A) end the game and (B) effectively score 15 goals at once, Rowling’s narrative would have to bend over backwards to allow any character to ever take center stage during a Quidditch match except the Seeker – which, naturally, is the position played by her story’s protagonist Harry Potter.

So much unsaid in this NY Daily News article about TLC’s Paige Davis returning as host of “Trading Spaces.”

Let’s recap: TLC’s “Trading,” based on a UK reality format, launched in 2000 with host Alex McLeod. The show was popular from the start, but in the second season, McLeod was replaced by Davis.

By 2002, the show had become the most successful program TLC had ever aired. “Trading” launched a ton of knock offs across a slew of basic cable networks in two genre directions – shows about decorating/houses, and shows about makeovers.

TLC over-stuffed their schedule with as much “Trading” as they could produce and, like ABC over-airing “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” the short-sighted strategy blew up in their faces.

The ratings for “Trading” crashed in 2004, dragging TLC down along with it.

That same year, Davis was photographed like this (NSFW), trading the space inside her panties for fistfuls of cash while stripping at a fundraiser.

Then she was fired in January, 2005.

Was that fair?

Well, it certainly wasn’t her fault the ratings crashed. Audiences weren’t rejecting Davis, they were weary of watching the same show every couple hours.

It was her fault that she got her thong stuffed by eager hordes of men in a New York club but, hey, it was for charity, and the network should have been more forgiving. We’re all grown ups here in the home improvement aisle, right?

Welcome back Paige.

You know those scenes in apocalyptic disaster movies that show people reduced to fighting over dirty water or a bare-bones shelter or scraps of food to survive?

That’s what it’s like watching the broadcast networks struggling to program their airwaves during the writers strike.

Now NBC and ABC have stepped into the Thunderdome to fight over celebrity circus reality shows.

“American Idol” is back.

Its ratings are like Jack Nicholson slapping Faye Dunaway in “Chinatown.” The ratings are huge! The ratings are disappointing! The ratings are huge AND disappointing!

They are bigger, bigger than anything else this season. Bigger by a mile. So tall you can’t see the top.

Yet they are also down. Tuesday night’s premiere down 13%. Wednesday’s second episode down 19%. Lowest premiere numbers in four years.

Whatever does this mean?

“Idol” is getting old. Reality shows are like dog years. Seven seasons is old for a reality show.

Fox is defensive about this. Its the fading quarterback who’s still on top, but his bum knee is catching up with him and he no longer gets carded at the bar and he rather just sit around and grill a steak than play in the game against Denver on Saturday. He’s denying he’s losing his touch, convinced he’ll play forever.

His fall may take a long time. Got many more seasons left in him. But fans know he’s past his prime and the standings prove it.

For those who have been missing “Deal or No Deal” this month, the NBC game show stalwart has been embarking on a “million dollar mission” to award a contestant $1 million. Each episode where a player fails to win the top prize, another $1 million suitcase is added to the board so that, sooner or later, even the gleeful, math-challenged chipmonk contestants of “Deal” will finally be able to stumble into big bucks.

Since this ratings-boosting stunt started, contestants have lined up to “No Deal Howie!” their way to record-setting six figure offers … then “No Deal Howie!” their way right back down to earn relative squat.

Fox’s glorified karaoke show returns tonight with producers promising fewer annoying mentors and more annoying contestants.

Once again, “Idol” is expected to decimate all competition. But by how much? Reality shows tend to have a ratings pattern that goes – in professional network executive lingo-speak — up, up, up and then down, down, down.

“Idol” went up, up, up and then last year went down for the first time. So will this year the decline continue?

It doesn’t even come close to mattering.

Some ratings softening for “Idol” is like Bill Gates getting a parking ticket. “Idol” has enough ratings to spare, enough to throw a party for its friends and to pass out Nielsen points in a big bowl on the coffee table.

Yup, more spandex and cameltoes coming soon to NBC.

The renewal, for an unknown number of episodes, expands NBC’s stock of “Gladiators” beyond the initial nine hours ordered by the network.

All eyes will be on tonight’s airing to see if their initial huge ratings hold up for a second week.

At least the muscled up performers have tested negative for steroids — but what do you want to bet they tested positive for a ton of cranberry juice and goldenseal?

Like many of you, I watched the first season of Rock of Love and always wondered sort of wonders lay beneath that cowboy hat / bandanna combo Bret wears every time he appears on camera.

A stack of greasy motorcycle parts? A litter of puppies? THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE?!?

Turns out, it’s just hair…. bummer right?

The new season of Rock of Love premieres on VH1 this Sunday, more info at VH1’s official Rock of Love 2 site