I’m not a fan of reality TV. The closest I come is that I watch “America’s Got Talent” because you see some everyday folks on there who have a lot of raw, natural talent. Otherwise, I find reality TV a waste of time. Much of it is scripted and anything but “real.” I’d rather work with stamps.

I saw commercials for a new show, “Friday Night Tykes”. In short, it’s a show about coaches yelling and screaming at little kids who are playing football. Little girls aren’t immune either. Have you seen “Dance Moms”? I guess someone is still watching this junk. It’s still on the air.

I have an idea to reach new collectors. We need a reality TV show about stamp collecting.

Picture this: a dealer (I volunteer to do it) standing over a collector who is pouring over their stamp album. The dealer is screaming at the collector: “You collect that garbage? Those are all cancelled-to-order stamps!” Here are some other zingers we can throw in for shock effect:

“Don’t you know that no one collects Zululand? Only serious collectors collect US”

“Don’t worry about the pretty pictures on stamps. The real money is in ugly looking pre-1900 stamps of dead US Presidents”

“Why haven’t you taken out a second mortgage to fund your stamp purchases? Or do you just want to be a rank amateur?’

“No, no, no you idiot! Can’t you see the secret mark on that stamp? You have it identified all wrong!”

I could go on for pages. But I’ll stop.

As we look at ways to bring philately to the masses, we are missing a golden opportunity. We need a reality TV show about stamp collecting. We need a catchy name too. “Screaming Stamp Collectors”? How about, “Psychotic Philatelists”? Yes, a reality TV show with lots of screaming and name calling is my answer to bring millions of new collectors into the hobby.

I hope this made you laugh. It was meant to.