Sophia’s favorite show, hands down, is “Dora the Explorer.” Dora, Boots the Monkey, the Backpack…they’re all close friends of ours in this house. I even took her to see Dora Live!

I sense that Dora’s popularity has been waxing something fierce—no Dora lunch boxes at her preschool last year; lots of them this year.

So this year the show has had a bit of an overhaul, with new opening titles and a couple of small changes to the format, which for the most part have been good. But there’s been one annoying addition: there are now “explorer stars,” which are ostensibly to help Dora and Boots in their quests. The explorer stars are not so much “new characters” though as “marketing opportunities.” It’s hard not to hear the execs saying, “And the kids will have to collect ’em all!”

Oy.

However, Darin noticed something funny in the premiere episode that introduced the explorer stars: Dora and Boots are in a boat, and the light-up star shines a light on the water ahead of them, which is full of sharks. Oh no! So Dora says, “We’re going to have to jump over them!”

And Darin said, “Is Dora actually jumping the shark?”

In the same episode they introduce this annoying marketing ploy, Dora jumps the shark. Is this a little joke from the Dora folks? Were they completely unaware of this phrase?

We must know.

We haven’t been watching much in the way of television lately. Partially because it’s summer, and partially because now the kids are going to bed at 9 instead of 8, and 9 is bordering on bedtime. (Hey, you go have some kids and see how you do!)

But we have been watching a few new things. “MI-5” on A&E (evidently originally it was called “Spooks” on the BBC, but Americans would tune in expecting something quite different if they kept that name). Yes, we watch “Monk,” and we know you probably do too, because it’s the highest rated show on basic cable. (I could do a whole thing about “Monk,” about how it’s a completely retro 70’s-detective style drama that’s as hokey as all get out, but Tony Shalhoub is so wonderful that he sells the whole damn creaky package.) And we’re big fans of “Lucky,” the half-hour dramedy about Las Vegas that has the two funniest guys on TV, bar none: Lucky’s sidekicks. I don’t know who those guys are or where they found them, but they are priceless.

We’ve also begun watching is “The Restaurant,” which is a hybrid of one of our favorite genres, the food show, crossed with one of our least favorite, the reality show.

“The Restaurant” is the story of chef Rocco DiSpirito opening his new restaurant, Rocco’s, in Manhattan. From finding the space to auditioning waiters to opening night and beyond, “The Restaurant” ostensibly shows us the craziness that goes into a high-profile restaurant.

Because of the subject matter, we keep watching it, but this isn’t at the RJ Cutler level of reality programming. It’s more a descendant of the staged “reality” of “Survivor”: editing clearly creates something that wasn’t necessarily there when the events occurred. It’s unclear how much say the show’s producers have in how the restaurant’s run: it’s not surprising that most of the waiters in a New York restaurant would be actors, but there’s something fishy about the cast…I mean, the staff. The guy who’s first in line at the casting call for restaurant staff just happens to be the central figure in the drama of a subplot in the second and third episodes! The backstage catfighting! The glamour of being a celebrity chef!

We’ll probably keep watching, but Darin sez it’s doesn’t compare to his reality show favorite of all time, “American High.” (Which was, of course, filmed at his high school, Highland Park High.)

“The Restaurant” also shows us the bleak future of the post-TiVo world. Reportedly TiVos aren’t selling that well and Hollywood isn’t concerned. Don’t you believe it. People are skipping commercials? Screw that, the shows are the commercials. The ad placements in this show are horrifying in their obviousness, for their integration into the show. We not only see the American Express logo several times during any given episode, but a subplot of the second episode revolved around an American Express card. You can’t show people drinking beer during a beer commercial, but during this show you can show the entire staff of the restaurant drinking big plastic cups of Coors—another sponsor of the show.

Every episode has one major moment for one of the big three sponsors: American Express, Coors, and Mitsubishi. They’re obvious insertions. The only way you can tell the American Express commercials from the show itself is the different style of photography.

Darin sez, “Thank God the programmers at KTLA read your blog!”

They’ve (finally) quit their damn war coverage and Angel is on!