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Beauty pageant contestants have it rough these days.

They're targets for mockery by facially symmetric-challenged folks like myself, and then there are the rapidly declining ratings for the actual televised shows.

Help is on the way for these poor dears.

The new four-part series "Miss America: Reality Check" (8 p.m., TLC) aims to mess with everything the contestants have learned about pageant basics and determine whether their smarts, attitudes and looks hold up in contemporary society.

Even better for us is that all 52 contestants must live together under one roof while host Michael Urie ("Ugly Betty") leads them in an intense set of events and challenges.

The show follows the ladies as they learn the latest trends, newest hairstyles and ways to represent themselves as role models in the modern world.

Throughout the series, the women will be critiqued on their progress by an advisory board made up of celebrity stylist Jeanie Mae, Us Weekly editor Dina Sansing and celebrity photographer Mark Liddell.

Life is so difficult for pretty people. Excuse me as I go shed a tear for them.

My new favorite series of 2008 is "Dogtown" (7 p.m., National Geographic).

The documentary-style show films at Dogtown, one of the largest no-kill animal facilities in the country.

It warms my cold, jaded heart.

Unlike the bleak "Animal Cops," this focuses less on the lousy people who got the animals into a bad spot and more on the people who are doing something to help.

The Dogtown staff of more than 60 humans oversees every canine need, including medical attention, training and rehabilitation, with the eventual hope of finding the dogs a loving home.

In tonight's premiere, authorities raid an evil Nebraska puppy mill.

Dogtown arranges an emergency flight for trainer Sherry Woodard to bring back some of the most traumatized dogs.

The worst is a terrier mix she names Animal, who pretty much makes my demon pug look like the most docile creature ever. He lashes out at any human who dares to touch him and has to be medicated during the grooming process.

Meanwhile, Dogtown's lead veterinarian attempts to help Porto, who is suffering from some wacky skin disease.

And two sibling hounds, Remington and Ruger, have been rescued from a polygamist sect where unwanted dogs are routinely shot. Trainer John Garcia has the heartbreaking duty of separating the two dogs who have always lived together.

Get out the hankies now. It's a weeper.