Cable imitating itself? Copy that

Seen one network, seen 'em all?

A big problem is brewing for TV programmers, especially on cable: Too many of them are running shows that resemble the same stuff everyone else is doing.

You may say, "Yes, and next you'll break the story of the invention of the cathode-ray tube." Isn't chasing somebody else's hits just the normal behavioral pattern of television executives?

Maybe, but look at Sunday nights this spring. E! is running "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," which deserves every viewer's gratitude for addressing the nation's acute shortage of celebreality shows. On History, you'll find "Ax Men," the latest in the real-men-in-danger genre spawned by Discovery's "The Deadliest Catch." MTV has "That's Amore!," a spinoff of the reality dating show "A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila" -- which is also back for Season 2.

When TV execs wax on about how the proliferation of cable outlets has created more consumer choice, this can't be what they have in mind. What happened to the programmers' adage "Put on what's not on"?

"There's too much me-too programming on cable networks," said Evan Shapiro, executive vice president and general manager at IFC.

"Cable was able to steal more than 50% market share from broadcast networks because it was able to do things broadcasters would never do," he added. "Now you have 'You Can Pimp My Ride With a House of Your Own.' ... With the marketplace so crowded, it's hard to establish a distinct brand."

Rob Sharenow, senior vice president of nonfiction and alternative programming at A&E, echoed the point. "The marketplace has gotten more competitive for nonfiction product," he told me. "A lot of people are trying to cash in on a trend."

But not his network, Sharenow hastened to add. A&E, once devoted to fine-arts programming, raised eyebrows when it launched its own celebreality show, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," now in its third season. But Sharenow pointed out that the series began its life as a project featuring the truculent rock star on sister network Biography.

Much of the copycat-ism has to do, of course, with the explosion of reality TV since 2000. It's not hard to figure out why networks like this type of programming. Compared with scripted shows, reality is cheap. Development times are shorter. Episodes can be churned out quickly. The "talent" is readily available. There are no expensive, overscheduled, unionized actors to contend with, no swanky sets to build.