MIAMI (CBS4) – A little more than twelve years ago, when I worked at Good Morning America, I watched a show called “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire.”

The next morning, I asked Diane Sawyer if she had watched it, jokingly telling her it was so awful it marked the end of Western Civilization.  She used the line on air to describe the show, which debased marriage, operating on the assumption that women married men only for money and men married women only for looks.

Little did I know, reality TV would soon get even worse, likely hitting rock bottom nine years later with “The Jersey Shore.”  It introduced us to living nightmares named Snooki, JWoww, The Situation and Pauly D.

Today, MTV announced that it is canceling the show after the current season, sparing us much more of this boorish bunch.

Snooki and JWoww will still have their spinoff on the air, but what may well be the worst show in TV history will be thankfully over in a few months.

I would hope this is the beginning of the end of their fifteen minutes.

Unfortunately, in a culture that values fame over talent and notoriety over achievement, I wouldn’t bet on it.