Showtime's getting some questions about the decision to carry the camera feeds from CBS' "Big Brother" as "Big Brother After Dark."

New York Daily News critic David Bianculli, who, no doubt in the line of duty, has actually watched a bit of "After Dark," suggests that it at last answers the question, "Is there anything worse than 'Big Brother'?"

"Nobody twisted our arms," said Showtime chairman Matt Blank, whose company is a corporate sibling of CBS'. His take: "Probably not much downside" running it on one of the auxiliary channels, "in the middle of the summer."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

But since Blank and entertainment president Robert Greenblatt had earlier been asked about those much-talked-about sex scenes on a certain HBO series, Greenblatt couldn't resist pointing out that "there's less sex on 'Big Brother After Dark' than there is on 'Tell Me You Love Me.'"

As I said, not exactly a ringing endorsement.