Last Saturday evening I tuned in to watch the premier episode of Animal Planet’s new reality TV show, Beverly Hills Groomer. And boy, was I surprised.

I tuned in for one reason only: my buddy and You Call the Shots coauthor Cameron Johnson is going to be a featured guest on the show. To be truthful, I pretty much expected the show to be kind of goofy, schlocky, not that great . . . why, I cannot say, that’s just the assumption I made.

The show was great. Genuinely poignant, genuinely valuable, and mostly, just plain genuine. Yes, I am talking about a reality TV show, I know.

The premise is this: this kid named Artist Knox, who grew up on South Central L.A. (and knows the meaning of “the school of hard knocks,” pun intentional), was the winner on a different show last year, as a result of which he was not only named “Groomer of the Year” but also given $50,000 and a cool mobile-dog-grooming RV.

Happy ending, right? Okay — but what happens to people who win these things?

This show begins where that one left off: he decides to quit his job, take his $50K and van, and start his own business. Will it succeed? Or will he crash and burn. His wheelchair-bound mom, infant son, little brother and big sister are all part of what’s at stake. And these people are genuinely sweet. This thing puts the “reality” into reality TV.

Long story short: Artist is losing ground pretty fast, and a friend urges him to call in a financial expert. You can guess who. That kid from Virginia.

And this happens this Saturday night, May 23, at 10:00 p.m.

I’ll be watching. You too?

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