Lifetime gives Bristol Palin own series

Reality television reduces everything it touches to reality TV. The “star” (and the mother of the “star”) of “Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp” (9 p.m., Lifetime) may have wanted a showcase about the burdens and rewards of single motherhood, but ultimately this genre drags everyone down to the level of a Kardashian. “Life’s a Tripp” is mostly about shopping and talking and talking about shopping. You can at least cut the Kardashians some slack for not pretending to be role models.

Sarah Palin — former Alaska governor, former vice presidential candidate and former “star” of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” on TLC — makes several appearances on daughter Bristol’s show. Any thinking person would have concluded long ago that allowing Sarah Palin to rattle on unscripted in front of cameras does not reflect her in the strongest light. But it’s never been clear that Palin’s appeal extends to thinking people.

Like “Alaska,” this series is filled with the Palins making pronouncements and then behaving in ways completely at odds with their stated philosophies. On “Alaska,” the former governor complained about people invading her privacy, while opening up her family’s life to the scrutiny of a camera crew. On “Life’s a Tripp,” Bristol Palin extols the beauties and virtues of Alaska in one scene and then decides to move to Beverly Hills in the next. Mother Palin talks about the vital sacrifice of motherhood one moment and then encourages her daughter to have an adventure in a posh Hollywood mansion. She also encourages Bristol to take her younger sister, Willow, with her. Isn’t Willow still in high school?

Bristol continually tells us that her son, Tripp, is the center of her life, yet she spends most of the time shopping, cavorting and clubbing, all the while condemning the shallowness of the LA lifestyle.

Bristol has found one appropriate outlet for her “do as I say, not as I do” behavior. She’s going on the lecture circuit to promote sexual abstinence. And “Life’s a Tripp” will be there to follow her.

Tonight’s other highlights

• The Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat tangle in the 2012 NBA Finals (8 p.m., ABC).

• Too close to the polar ice on “Deadliest Catch” (8 p.m., Discovery).

• “Mysteries at the Museum” (8 p.m., Travel) profiles the “real” James Bond.

• Scheduled on “48 Hours Mystery” (9 p.m., CBS): the owner of a posh manor comes under suspicion in his wife’s murder.