There are so many words that describe the new Bravo series "Being Bobby Brown," I hardly know where to begin.

There's sad. Pathetic. Grotesque. Offensive. Seedy. Unbelievable. Awful. Scary. Appalling. Atrocious.

And, on the part of Bravo, irresponsible. Yes, I know all commercial TV is about ratings and advertising, but maybe there ought to be a law against putting people whose mental stability is questionable in front of the camera.

(Of course, if that were against the law, then Matt Lauer wouldn't have interviewed Tom Cruise on "The Today Show.")

These days, Brown is mostly known for being married to Whitney Houston and for going to jail. He's spent time in the clink for spousal abuse, drug abuse, drunken driving and failure to pay child support. (He's got at least five kids he fathered out of wedlock in addition to his daughter with Houston.)

Once he was an actual star, with hit records and all of that. Now, he's a pathetic has-been who's nothing more than a curiosity and object of scorn and ridicule.

He seems to be sadly unaware of that, however. Just as he's completely unaware that "Being Bobby Brown" (tonight, 8 p.m., Bravo) only adds to his reputation as, well, a pathetic has-been who's counting on this show to raise his career from the dead.

When the series opens, Brown is just getting out of jail. He's waiting for his wife, whom he hasn't seen in more than a month. She shows up . . . two hours later.

But Houston must love Brown. She did, after all, agree to be on this show. Or maybe she's trapped in co-dependence. But she doesn't come off any better than he does.

The once-beautiful star, fresh off another (apparently failed) drug rehab attempt, finally staggers into view looking like an accident victim. If listening to the two of them talk about their, um, private time is bad, listening to them talk about the time Bobby, um, helped Whitney out with her, um, constipation is enough to make your skin crawl.

And, hopefully, more than enough to make you change the channel.

What's most remarkable about "Being Bobby Brown" is the depths to which it goes. It was difficult to believe so-called "reality" TV could get worse than "Britney & Kevin: Chaotic." Or "Growing Up Gotti." Or "Temptation Island."

It's impossible to believe reality TV could get any worse than "Being Bobby Brown."

Oh, wait — Michael Jackson and his family are reportedly pitching a reality show to any network that will listen.

THERE IS GOOD NEWS on the reality-TV front. Nobody from Utah is on the upcoming "Big Brother 6," which premieres July 7 on CBS/Ch. 2.

Well, that's mostly good news for me. It means I won't have to watch the show.

Phew!

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com