NBC keeps pumping out the reality shows.

The Peacock Network has announced that they, along with Reveille, Teleflora, Redbook and Hearst Magazines, are looking for America's Favorite Mom. The search actually began two weeks ago (it's hard to keep track of all these reality competition shows that are popping up), and the top 25 finalists will appear on The Today Show on every day the week before the primetime special airs on May 11 (which is, no surprise, Mother's Day). They've already set up a site for the contest. There are already a ton of entries (with pictures and other info) and you can browse each one, post comments, and soon you'll be able to vote for the mom that captures your fancy (please note: it's not a dating site).

I suddenly got this horrible image in my mind of Barbara Billingsley eating bugs to win a new SUV.

Independent Lens doesn't shy away from featuring documentaries on difficult subjects, but out of all the ones I've seen so far, this one was the most heart-wrenching. Motherland Afghanistan follows an Afghan American doctor who returns to Afghanistan to work in a hospital to provide medical care and expertise for pregnant women who live in a land where infant mortality rates are high and medical supplies are always in short supply. Dr. Qudrat Mojadidi role at Afghanistan's largest hospital is not only to help patients, but to train the doctors and staff with the help of funding from the U.S. government.

Motherland Afghanistan focuses on a crisis in Afghanistan largely ignored here in the states, but it's worth seeing not only because it's educational, but because it shows there are still people willing to try and make things better despite the odds, and to help those in need not only through medical treatment, but through education as well.

Motherland Afghanistan, filmed and directed by Dr. Mojadidi's daughter Sedika, will air on select PBS stations tonight at 10 p.m.

(S03E08) You know, right up to the end of this episode I thought there were some funny moments, and it was entertaining. However, it seemed clearly to be just a hamster-on-a-treadmill kind of episode, just providing a denouement after the high drama of last week. But, oh, how I was wrong.

First things first. Clearly, the witty bits about Mrs. McCluskey at the beginning of the episode were foreshadowing. Talk about a meddling neighbor; it's one thing to take down somebody's Christmas lights, but if I got somebody's cat neutered, it would start being my cat from the first ship. But clearly, Mrs. McCluskey has access to Mike's garage, so that is our first clue that when the police search Mike's house for the pipe wrench that killed Monique, they aren't going to find anything. And Mrs. McCluskey does love to blackmail people.

(S02E05) I always wanted to be in a band. Sure, I thought it would make me much cooler to girls, but I also imagined myself as someone who can bring pure musical joy to others. And then, of course, I woke up.

Earl had pretty much the same idea, but at least he took the big step of actually getting on stage and performing. OK, so Phish Tahko didn't exactly set the world on fire, and Earl and the band suffered the same fate that most bands that didn't make it suffered from--women and booze. Of course, in Earl's case, things got a bit messy.

Tomorrow, the UK's Channel Five will broadcast Five's Birth Night Live, a two-hour special during which one woman will give birth, or so the creators of the program are hoping. This is the first time a live birth will have been captured on British television, but while Channel Five and host Gabby Logan insist they'll remain unobtrusive, the series has caught a lot of flak from experts who insist the mother should be in a calm and unobtrusive environment, a situation they feel is impossible with a camera crew filming every moment. The folks behind the special say they'll withdraw if any problems arise for the mother or child, but that wasn't much assurance to those who feel they shouldn't be there in the first place. Perhaps one of out UK readers can fill me in on this, but I assume the mothers have to give permission before they can appear on camera? Whether or not you agree with this seems like a moot point if the one giving birth has agreed ahead of time.