Reality TV may rule the ratings, but "if you really go back, Miss America was the first reality competition."

That's the view of Sarah Brock, vice president of production, music and events for CMT, which telecasts the 2007 Miss America Pageant live from the Aladdin Theatre at 5 p.m. today. (Local viewers can see the show at 8 p.m.)

This year's show includes several features borrowed from other TV competitions, including fan text voting and more focus on the pageant's panel of judges: actress Debbie Allen, model-turned-photographer Nigel Barker (a judging vet thanks to "America's Next Top Model"), singer Michael Feinstein, "Hardball" newsman Chris Matthews and former Miss America Susan Powell.

The show also features a new set with the requisite "wow" factor, Brock says. After all, "you can't come to Las Vegas and put up a pup tent."

If you're interested in attending the pageant, free, Vegas Background needs 500 seat-fillers for the telecast. For more information, call 866-5924 (before noon), click on "Casting Calls" at www.vegasbackground.com or be at the Aladdin, ballrooms 5 through 8, at 2 p.m.

"After Dark" aces: NBC's "Poker After Dark," which airs six nights a week (Tuesday through Saturday at 2:05 a.m. and Sunday at 1 a.m., after "Saturday Night Live"), returns to the South Point today to tape another 10 weeks' worth of shows.

The series -- which previously visited the South Point last fall -- features top poker pros plunking down $20,000 each to play in the single-table, winner-take-all games. (Saturday's "director's cut" shows recap each week's action.)

"Vegas was really the only place that made sense to do this," says Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports. "That's where the high-end poker is, with the best players, the best venues, the best casinos."

In the bag: "Paper or Plastic?" That's not a grocery-store query, it's the title of a new documentary shooting through Thursday in conjunction with the grocery bagging competition, part of the National Grocers Association convention at Caesars Palace.

The schedule includes Tuesday's U.S. finals, followed by Wednesday's showdown between the U.S. and Canadian champs. A Fremont Street Experience featuring various state champs is also on the agenda.

Producer-director Justine Jacob has followed the state champions since September, reasoning "there was a story there about excelling in life, no matter what you do."

Quick take: Other TV crews expected this week include ABC's "20/20," in town to capture background footage of local Matthew Dovel and a friend walking and talking at the Fremont Street Experience, for an upcoming May report on "Near Death Experiences."

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at 383-0272 or e-mail her at ccling@ reviewjournal.com.