 "Photo:")
“Joe Millionaire” Mondays @ 9 p.m. on FOX
“Joe Millionaire” attempts to answer the eternal question: do women marry for love or for money? Or, more specifically. The better question, though, is: would a woman still love a man who pretended to be a multi-millionaire? In reality, people want to believe that they wouldn’t marry for money. In a reality TV show, the audience can’t help but look away as the pseudo-drama unfolds and dreams are crushed.
Thankfully, “Joe Millionaire” has both drama and crushed dreams. With only two episodes into the series, Evan, a.k.a. Joe, has already rejected 15 out of the 20 women. With only five women left, future episodes promise horrendously catty women behavior.
And that is what makes this show better than any other dating-based shows out there: these women will ferociously battle each other over anything at all, which in this case is a construction worker that they’ve been led to believe is filthy rich—as opposed to just filthy. What puts “Joe” above and beyond the competition is watching women who expect luxury on their dates picking grapes in the cold rain or shoveling coal in order to get their train to move.
If you’re looking for a smart or clever show, do not watch FOX on Monday nights. If you’re looking for an hour of Average Joe-type laughs, “Joe Millionaire” has got them in spades!
—Christinia Crippes, MUSE Staff
“The Surreal Life” Thursdays @ 9 p.m. on WB
Once reality TV exploded, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Once “The Osbournes” became a cultural phenomenon, a show like “The Surreal Life” was bound to be a surefire success.
With “The Osbournes,” TV producers assumed that people would watch any old, washed-up celebrity. The WB, ready to rise to the occasion, responded to the reality TV craze with its own incredible show. Boasting not one but seven “Where are they now?” semi-celebrities, “The Surreal Life” features Gabrielle Carteris (“Beverly Hills 90210”), Emmanuel Lewis (“Webster”), MC Hammer, Jerri Manthey (“Survivor: The Australian Outback”), Vince Neil (Motley Crue), Brande Roderick (Playboy), and Corey Feldman (The Goonies).
As if this unlikely group was not surreal enough, the once-hedonistic singer of Motley Crue has revealed himself as the most down-to-earth out of the seven. If you need any other prompting to tune in to “The Surreal Life,” it comes in the form of Corey Feldman, who actually did not fall off the earth after he hit puberty—he instead reinvented himself as a ridiculous, annoying man. The other six realize it too, and catching their eye-rolls every time Corey talks is priceless.
Not all of us are fortunate enough to live a surreal life, but through these seven pampered personas non gratis we can get a glimpse.
—Christinia Crippes, MUSE Staff
“High School Reunion” Sundays @ 9 p.m., Thursdays at 8 p.m on WB
If given the chance, would you want to relive your high school years? Do you want to show up that bully that always called you fat? Do you want to go on a date with your high school crush? Whether or not you’ve dreamt of revenge or just desserts, the WB’s “High School Reunion” is a juicy peek at a ten-year reunion crossed with MTV’s “The Real World.” Picked from Oak Park-Forest Hills High School’s class of 1992, 17 classmates reunite at a lavish Maui house for two weeks. The classmates were hand-picked by producers and given appropriate names to describe them in high school, like “the Nerd,” “the Bully,” and “the Homecoming Queen.”
And what would a reality show be without love connections? Each week, one or two participants are given “hall passes,” invitations to special or exotic dates. In the first episode, Nicole, a.k.a. “the Tall Girl,” asked her high school crush, Dan, a.k.a. “the Player,” out on a date. Convinced that Dan was going to ask her to marry her by the end of the two weeks, Nicole was scorned when Dan asked Natasha, “the Popular Girl,” to join him on his date the very next day.
As ridiculous and sleazy as the concept for “High School Reunion” seems, it’s actually one of the few reality shows that makes sense. All of the participants know each other and their feelings are based on previous relationships and events, and it’s fascinating to see what feelings materialize when there are ten years and hundreds of miles between high school and the present. Will “the Nerd” and “the Homecoming Queen” find true love? Will “the Chubby Cheerleader” disprove her high school title? Is “the Gossip” still an incorrigible bigmouth? Tune in Sundays at 9 p.m. and Thursdays at 8 p.m—yes it airs twice a week!—to find out. And, in the meantime, you can look forward to your own ten-year high school reunion.
“The Mole: Celebrity Hawaiian Style” Wednesdays @ 10 p.m. on ABC
When The Mole 2 was put on hiatus in July 2002, loyal fans rallied in support of the reality show. After it returned, the show’s second edition scored major ratings, enticing ABC execs to put together a ratings ploy to attract new viewers for future “Mole” installments: “Celebrity Hawaiian Style.” This shortened, six-episode season features such well-known members of the entertainment industry like Stephen Baldwin (The Usual Suspects), Corbin Bernsen (Major League), Kathy Griffin (Intern), Kim Coles (“Living Single”), Michael Boatman (“Spin City”), Erik von Detten (Dinotopia), and Frederique (Victoria Secret model) with host Ahmad Rashad (“NBA: Inside Stuff”).
The concept of the show is a little hard to understand. One of the contestants is “the mole” who tries to sabotage the team’s missions. The purpose of the missions is to earn money that goes towards the final pot, a potential prize of $250,000. The rest of the participants must take notes in their provided journals and at the end of each episode they are tested to see if they know whom the mole is. The contestant with the lowest score is “executed” off the show. With each episode, the money pot increases and so does the suspicion about the mole’s true identity.
The antics of the goofy Baldwin and the always-sarcastic Griffin make the show worth at least a glance on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Watching semi-famous celebs take part in physical and mental challenges also has its laughable moments. You’ll find that tuning into the six, hour-long episodes will be a small, yet worthwhile, commitment.
—Tony Ly, Contributing Writer
“Real World/Road Rules Battle of the Sexes” Mondays @ 10 p.m. on MTV
It’s been done before: ex-Real Worlders and Road Rulers get together for an ultimate challenge that includes money, fighting and a lot of sex. MTV manages to mix it up, though, with this season’s new and improved “Real World/Road Rules Battle of the Sexes,” where 36 past players get together to duke it out for a $150,000 prize. Unlike past challenges, where the contestants from “The Real World” would compete against those from “Road Rules,” this one splits the men and the women into separate teams. The single sex teams are a heterogeneous mix of Real World and Road Rules cast members, adding tension to each group.
The first episode offered up the classic “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” fights and alliances that will no doubt mature and change throughout the season. As an extra special bonus for boy-crazy female fans, throw in ex-Olympian/hunky eye candy, Johnny Mosley, who hosts the festivities, and you have the best guilty pleasure MTV has ever offered up. But beware—these are seasoned reality TV veterans and they know how to put on a show. They will pull out all the stops with drama and hysterics, and they love to lay it on thick. If you are a fan of past “Real World” and “Road Rules” seasons and enjoy the cheesy performances of these wannabe actors, “Real World/Road Rules Battle of the Sexes” is the show for you. If you’re lucky enough to get cable, you can watch it every Monday at 10 p.m.
—Jodi Schneiderman, Contributing Writer
“The Bachelorette” Wednesday @ 9 p.m. on ABC
After two successful seasons of “The Bachelor,” ABC executives decided to put the control into the hands of the ladies, giving 29-year-old Trista Rehn the chance to choose a possible mate from a batch of 25 bachelors. Trista is, of course, the woman scorned from the premiere season of “The Bachelor,” a program that ended with the slick Alex choosing Amanda over her in front of millions of viewers.
This time, Trista is the one breaking hearts this time, as she reigns over a group of potential suitors that includes mortgage brokers and a firefighter who likes to write poetry. The men, all vying for Trista’s affection, are not as catty or intense as some women have been on the past “Bachelor” series. In fact, last week’s episode showed the men acting like fraternity brothers by getting inebriated and putting one passed-out bachelor—and his bed—outside on the lawn.
Nevertheless, there are still dates to go on and a girl to be won, and watching these men clamber for attention and face-time with Trista is amusing. When one man, Russell, presented her with a tiny box from Tiffany’s during the first episode, all the other bachelors groaned in disgust.
Every episode ends with the inevitable rose ceremony, where Trista passes out boutonniére roses to those men she would like to get to know better. The looks of sheer terror and anxiety frozen onto the men’s faces as Trisha announces her decisions as to who stays and who gets the boot are reason enough to watch the show.
—Bailey Vatalaro, Contributing Writer
Be the first to comment on this article!