So . . . when did throwing up become the newest spectator sport? The hottest TV trend in pop culture?

The red-hot reality show fear factor is supposed to highlight people facing up to and facing down their greatest fears. Whenever I've tuned in, the only thing I've seen is people hurling.

They have good reason. The most crowd-pleasing, Nielsen-boosting activity seems to be when the "everyman" and "everywoman" participants are forced to consume large quantities of such disgusting delicacies as horse rectum, raw fish guts and pig's eyeballs. Or don't forget the wiggling, squirming, definitely still alive insects and reptiles they're forced to swallow.

YUCK! This isn't the measure of a real fear factor. It's some prime-time, adolescent voyeurism that delights in the gross and revolting. I'…