Ten years ago, when MTV mugged Fox's COPS for its dope depiction of reality and peddled the pilfered booty to America's kiddies as The Real World, a funny thing happened on the way to the schoolyard sales. Like dumping spoonfuls of oregano into a bag of sweet-smelling bud, MTV diluted the hard stuff copped from COPS - the speed, the smack, the crack - by calling The Real World's camera-cluttered, impeccably coiffed apartment an authentic microcosm. From then on, the potency of the term "reality" was weakened, because as anyone who's sat through one of those whiny confessional scenes knows, labeling The Real World or any of its bastardized offspring "real" is like advertising fleabitten feral mutts as well-groomed show dogs.

So these days - a summer when The Real World X debuts Tuesday, July 3 at 10 p.m., Big Brother 2 begins this Thursday, July 5, and FOX's Murder in Small Town X starts at the end of the month - the genre tag " reality " is as trustworthy as a flashing neon sign. Hence it's entirely fitting that the best reality TV blog on the Web calls itself Reality blurred (www.realityblurred.com).

Maintained by 23-year-old Andy Dehnart, a freelance writer and self-described " reality TV addict, " Reality blurred is an online collection of washed-up debris from the muddy tidal wave that is The Real World, Road Rules, Making the Band, Survivor, The Mole, Big Brother, American High, Fear, Temptation Island, Boot Camp, Popstars, Bands on the Run, Chains of Love, and WWF's Tough Enough. Conan O'Brien-produced Lost holds an open casting call at the Rack in Boston? Colby admits he might use eBay to auction off the ugly Pontiac Aztek he won on Survivor 2? VH1's Bands on the Run airs orgasmic moans from one of Flickerstick's near-orgies? Find out more on Reality blurred.

Sure, Reality blurred might be intended for ardent aficionados of Survivor's Colleen, Popstars's Eden's Crush, and Making the Band's O-Town, but the site's appeal certainly isn't limited to fans. Actually, Reality blurred works well as a daily confidence booster. After checking out how nastily Survivor 2's Amber bad-mouthed grand-prize winner Tina to Craig Kilborn, how quickly O-Town's Jacob has become a self-absorbed prick, and how shamelessly Boston College student and Real World X cast member Lori flouts her resemblence to Catherine Zeta-Jones, not only will you feel damn good about yourself, you'll realize that half the people in your phone book are three thousand times cooler than these solipsistic brats. See, " reality " doesn't always bite.