You'd almost think this is a joke, but it's not. Really.

Cable network VH1 actually issued a press release about "Shooting Sizemore," the latest in its long line of "celebreality" shows:

"Tom Sizemore fights his way back to the top of the Hollywood A-list in the new VH1 series."

I am not making this up. VH1 wants us all to watch as a man who was sent to prison for beating up his former fiancee "fights his way back to the top."

And this on a channel whose moniker originally stood for Video Hits 1.

Adding insult to injury (no pun intended), VH1 fails to mention Sizemore's penchant for beating up women. Oh, the channel tells us how "Sizemore's career came to a screeching halt when, in a matter of months, his methamphetamine and heroin addiction led to his downward spiral. As a result he lost jobs, went into bankruptcy and lost his home."

Yet, oddly enough, there's no mention of that little problem the actor has with beating up women.

"Shooting Sizemore" (Sunday, 11:30 p.m.) is, I suppose, the logical next step in VH1's descent into celebrity reality hell. It started out with a show that moved over from The WB, "The Surreal Life," which featured various has-beens and never-weres sharing a house and — bonus for the producers — going through various breakdowns.

If "celebrities" want to embarrass themselves on shows like "Hogan Knows Best," "My Fair Brady," "Flavor of Love" and "Celebrity Fit Club," that is their right. It's pathetic, but I don't have to watch. (Well, as a TV critic, I do have to watch. But you don't.)

But VH1 crossed a line when it put "Breaking Bonaduce" on the air. Not just because Danny Bonaduce was at genuine risk of going completely off the deep end but because his wife and children were also involved.

At least Sizemore doesn't have a wife and children. But he does have a history of being even less stable than Bonaduce. And yet VH1 seems to find that perfect fodder for a TV show.

I'm certainly all in favor of Sizemore trying to turn his life around, which is supposed to be the point of this show. But there's something entirely disingenuous about making a TV show out of it.

It's just another example of how Hollywood rewards bad behavior. And it has proven to be a help to Sizemore in the past — facing prison on that domestic-abuse conviction, he was nonetheless cast in the 2003 CBS series "dr. vegas."

And the then-president of CBS Entertainment defended him as a "fine actor" who would "add to the show tremendously."

"You obviously have to take into account with his personal situation whether he's going to be available or not," which was why his was a recurring character, not a series regular.

They call that enabling. VH1 continues to enable.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com