Meanwhile, new shows have cropped up, including the “Dancing With the Stars� rip-off “Skating With Celebrities.�
Admittedly, I am not a big reality fan. Sure, I’ll occasionally flush dignity down the drain to watch an episode of VH1’s “The Surreal Life,� but I always feel bad about it.
I liked Bravo’s “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List,� but felt betrayed when the comedienne’s marriage, depicted as so solid in the show, fell apart soon after it ended.
Mostly, I find the genre sadistic, silly and demeaning. It’s a whole category of programming set up to humiliate its participants, while offering the vague promise of money, fame, or, in the case of shows featuring has-been celebrities, a couple of extra minutes in the spotlight.
Still, there are two new shows in this category that have caught my attention, in a good way, for once. One is in an interesting, albeit flawed, social experiment, and the other is a charming romantic comedy in the guise of a reality show.
The former is FX’s “Black.White.� which starts March 8 at 10 p.m. More of a documentary mini-series than reality show, it follows two families – the Wurgels, who are white, and the Sparks’s, who are black – who switch races. If you’ve seen the ads (which air, like, every 10 minutes during “The Shield�), you know what I mean.
Using makeup, prosthetics, wigs and the like, white becomes black and black becomes white. The visual success of the makeup tricks varies. Brian Sparks, in particular, looks like he just stepped out of that old SNL skit where Eddie Murphy becomes a white man.
Yet those that the transformed families meet seem convinced, often with interesting results. Rose Wurgel, joins an all-black poetry group. But the other kids are so honest and genuine that she just can’t bear lying to them about her race.
When she reveals her true identity, some in the group are hurt by the lie, but mostly, they see it as an opportunity to teach her what life is like in a different skin.
The show isn’t always so fascinating, mostly because Rose’s parents, Carmen and Bruno, are caricatures of clueless white buffoons. Now, granted, they’re real people and they probably really are that clueless, but I feel it’s kind of stacking the deck to have chosen such appallingly ignorant people.
Bruno in particular seems so convinced that racism is just a state of mind and not a reality that his scenes are often tough to watch.
But at least “Black. White� is trying to accomplish something. It’s not just about embarrassing a tone deaf aspiring singer or a washed up celeb, and that’s refreshing.
Even more refreshing – and way more fun – is “#1 Single,� a delightful reality show on E! charting the romantic entanglements of pop star Lisa Loeb.
I’ve never been a big fan of Loeb, mostly because her biggest hit, the insanely catchy “Stay,� was inescapable in the late 90s. But on this show – airing 10 p.m. on Sundays -- she’s adorable.
Loeb is in her late 30s, and interested in settling down and having a family. But she doesn’t want to compromise her quirky sensibility just for the sake of domesticity. At the same time, she’s also trying to produce new music.
The show balances documentary footage of Loeb going about her life with her smart, witty voiceover observations. When a talk show host introduces her with the words “She’s single again!� Loeb’s voiceover intones “Wait, being single is my new credit?�
While most single women aren’t quirkily beautiful pop stars, they can appreciate her plight. Witness the guy who virtually ignores her on a date, then sends her roses the next day.
What is the deal?, wonders Loeb, as any sensible woman would. The show is funny, but never at Loeb’s expense. It’s the rare celebrity reality show where the celeb is in on the joke, but not in a cloying way.
It’s that rare reality show about a famous person that succeeds in making her look like a real person. And that’s something special.