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Dave on Demand: Losing ways

When Katherine Heigl turned down an Emmy nomination for "Grey's Anatomy," it was an arrogant act you'd never have seen from TV's true pros.

There's nothing more annoying than a sore winner.

Katherine Heigl of Grey's Anatomy told the Los Angeles Times this week that she has withdrawn her name from Emmy consideration, explaining "I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention."

You have to wonder if she knows how pretentious and petulant this announcement makes her sound.

First of all, it's not like she was a lock to win this thing. When she took Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series last year, it was her first Emmy. In fact, it was her first nomination.

And even that was a huge upset. Not only was she not the best supporting actress, she wasn't even the best actress from her own show in the category. (Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson were also nominated.) So for her to act like this Emmy stuff is old hat to her is wildly arrogant.

Then she managed to insult the writers of Grey's Anatomy. This may have escaped your notice, honey, but there was a writers' strike this year. Nobody had a good season.

It's hard to imagine previous generations of TV pros acting this supercilious. Could you see Patty Duke, Betty White, Carol Burnett, Holland Taylor, or Mary Tyler Moore making a gesture this haughty and dismissive?

Heigl not only looked a gift horse in the mouth, she insulted its dental work.

Green and greedy. These days it's hard to tell entertainment shows from paid programming. They're both engaged in the hard sell.

Take this week's special Hulked-up edition of American Gladiators. Yes, Lou Ferrigno made an appearance. And many in the crowd wore those novelty Hulk fists. Chiseled Gladiator Titan got his skin dusted green before one event. But the primary focus of the episode was a trailer for the superhero film that just opened.

That's a lot of hype just to show us a glorified commercial. For a tribute to the Hulk, this was awfully anemic.

Limited options. What I'm learning this summer is that we all watch TV differently. With my daughter, a recent college graduate, making a brief pit stop at home, the television might as well have only two channels because she watches E! and VH1 exclusively. That means an endless roundelay of celebrity news and quasi-celebrity reality shows.

In the last two weeks, I've spent more time with the Kardashian family than I would have thought possible in an entire lifetime.

Clean and sober. The second season of Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew doesn't begin until October, but it's already shaping up as a doozy.

Among the "celebrities" looking to detox on camera are former sex kitten Tawny Kitaen and onetime police brutality victim Rodney King. The show will also feature the return of drug zombie Jeff Conaway. I recently saw Conaway - probably watching E! with my daughter - slurringly talking about his new friend, oxycodone. Dr. Drew is going to have his hands full.

Luckily, he's bringing in a special counselor, Gary Busey. Isn't that a hoot? Sure, if you've got a bunch of addicts you're trying to restore to sanity, why not enlist the mayor of Crazytown?

Forever my bro. MTV announced a new reality series this week, Bromance, in which a group of guys will compete to be the wingman for mystery celebrity Brody Jenner. Brody has been a table filler on The Hills, and his dad, Bruce, is the befuddled paterfamilias on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, so I guess that makes him TV royalty.

Ryan Seacrest, the show's executive producer and the busiest man in showbiz, explained the appeal of his new project: "Relationships with girls come and go, but bromances are forever."

We'll take your word on that one, Ry.