TVSquad

When reality shows first started to gain a lot of traction after Survivor, I had a tendency to at least sample most of what's on the air. Now, that would be an impossible task. The airwaves are overstuffed with so much reality crap that it's getting harder and harder to find any of them worth watching.

Even worse is the caliber of contestants. After early reality "stars" gained notoriety and temporary fame, suddenly any obnoxious bozo who wants attention is jumping into reality television. Now the show's as much about the ridiculous contestants as it is about the premise. It is in regards to this that E!s new take on reality holds promise.

Reality Hell airs Sundays at 10:30 PM ET on E!. We're two episodes in; the premiere tackled modeling shows, while this week's episode took on wife swapping. So far, they're one for two.

The premise is simple. The show picks a reality show wannabe contestant, and they stage a fake reality show around them. Think of it like Spike TV's The Joe Schmo Show, only they're done-in-one episodes and they're tackling every kind of reality show there is.

Last week's modeling riff seemed so fake that it was hard to imagine the "target" falling for it. Not to mention that it was about the shortest modeling competition I'd ever seen: three contestants, one challenge, winner declared. But she bought it. The antics, while over the top, just didn't grab me.

But the second installment, where they duped an entire family with a wife swapping scenario, was far better. The "target" wife came into a fake Hollywood family while the fake Hollywood wife invaded their homes. They had me with the adopted Korean son they used as a servant; he even had his own closet-sized quarters in the yard.

It's inevitable that we'd see a backlash from the glut of reality on television, and getting back at the legions of rubes who'll sign up to be on anything to get their fifteen minutes is inspired. It's all in the execution, I guess. The premise does have a lot of promise, so I'll chalk up the premiere as growing pains.

It would help if the show got some name recognition with the big reveal at the end. People today still recognize the gag when someone screams "You're on Candid Camera!" Even "You've just been Punk'd!" became known. But these folks have no idea what the hell is going on when the actors shout "You've just been through Reality Hell!" and die laughing.