HELP FOR THE HOPELESS: Network TV has finally shown signs of admitting it’s in trouble, and there’s no shortage of helpful bystanders willing to offer their opinions on how it can get up off the ground – including yours truly.

Just after NBC announced last week that they’d be turning over the weeknight 10 p.m. slot to Jay Leno, the New York Times business section ran a little analysis of what the news meant – at least if you’d ever spent time sitting in an executive suite in Hollywood or New York.

"The whole nature of TV has become a lot more viewer-friendly,” Robert C. Wright, a former chairman of NBC Universal, told the Times. "There are more opportunities than ever before for people to watch a program that they’re interested in."

"There’s no way to schedule around DVR viewing,” said Dawn Ostroff, CW’s president of entertainment. “You have to assume that a good number of viewers are going to wind up watching the content in a different way."

The 10 p.m. slot, the home to superannuated procedurals and mediocre news magazines for too long, has become the Siberia of prime time, and a no-go zone for younger viewers, though how Leno’s new show is going to bring them back remains to be seen.

In the Boston Globe, TV critic Matthew Gilbert published nine suggestions for how the networks could compete with cable and become relevant again, including more finite runs on series to prevent staleness, more incentive for marquee comedians like Will Ferrell to shift from movies back to TV, perhaps with a show based on current affairs, fewer awards shows, commercials, and irritating onscreen graphics, and a comedy series based on reality television.

The last one is a great idea, and it frankly boggles the mind why no one has tried it yet. As Gilbert points out, "It’s time for the networks to acknowledge – and celebrate, and exploit – the fact that we all know about just how fake reality shows are." Amen to that, brother.

Gilbert also wishes the networks would curb their enthusiasm for procedurals, but considering that they remain popular – as he himself points out, CBS’ The Mentalist is one of the few real hits this season – and a favorite of the demographically-derided but cash-rich older viewer, I can’t imagine he’ll get his wish.