What do we do if Trump loses? What do we do to fill our nighttime TV schedule? Is it just back to politics as usual? Will it return to what it was? Dry? Informational? Talking heads discussing international and domestic issues?

We now crave the down and dirty. Dirty laundry. Outrageous comments. Trump has brought us to a new level of discourse. We can’t go back to what it was. Hell, no — this is too entertaining! Every day Trump brings a new episode of madness that fascinates. It’s irresistible. You don’t want to miss an episode. It’s unpredictable. Irresponsible. Deliciously perverse. And we can’t take our eyes off of him.

He can be for or against anything, any day of the week. No continuity is necessary, which keeps everything lively and fresh. Any idea can change on a dime. Everyone is wrong and only he is right, he will state. And we love the false bravado. It’s fun to watch a man stand in front of an audience and lie with such ease. We haven’t seen this before. Oh, sure, politicians have lied before, but not with this level of constant efficiency.

He reminds us over and over again how smart he is. His superior memory. He knows more than generals or economists or lawyers or historians. The breadth of his knowledge is stunning to hear.

In the wonderful Preston Sturges film “Sullivan’s Travels,” Sullivan the director says, “I want this picture to be a commentary on modern conditions, stark realism, the problems that confront the average man!” and the studio head says, “But with a little sex in it!” Donald Trump may have exposed a deep, dark secret about our democracy: We don’t really care for politics, unless there’s a little sex in it … and if not sex, at least something that titillates us. Something a little bit scandalous, a little bit outrageous: a dash of sensationalism, a dollop of fascism, a pinch of unpredictability, some frightening moments sprinkled in, and, above all, nothing that smells of being too serious.

It doesn’t get any more entertaining than Trump. He is a one-man show. He just needs an audience. No TV star can match his personality. He seems to lack real conviction or understanding of human behavior, and any semblance of ideology is not in his portfolio. But that’s OK. He’s a flawed character that we can follow — the nightly adventures of Donald Trump — and real discourse be damned.

We need a Trump presidency for the fun of it. We can’t go back to the ordinary. “How ya gonna keep ’em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree?” so the old song of WWI expressed. Just think, Trump giving his inaugural address — not in front of the U.S. Capitol, but at the new Trump Post Office Hotel, talking about the luxury accommodations as he continues to berate anyone and anything that stands in the face of making America great again.

He certainly will get into fights and accusations with foreign leaders. That’s a given. Someone, somewhere will get under Trump’s skin. And, boy, will that be fun to watch. Feuding and tensions, threats and allegations, to be viewed nightly. Talk of nuclear war, dissolving treaties, creating chaos. Continual firing of staff members for disloyalty, and trials of his business misdeeds playing out against the political landscape.

At least four years of nightly news that can rival the best that real entertainment can offer. If our political system is broken, he isn’t the one to fix it. But he can entertain us as we slip into the dark void.

Barry Levinson is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning director, writer, producer, and actor. His many films include “Diner,” “The Natural,” “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Rain Man,” and “Wag the Dog.” His movie about Bernie Madoff, “The Wizard of Lies,” starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer, is due out next year.