Life > February 2, 2006

By Christopher Browder

Old Gold & Black Columnist

The reality TV genre is one of extremes. There are extreme challenges. They have extreme contestants.

And most of all, they are either extremely good or extremely bad. Unfortunately, the vast majority of reality programming falls in the latter category.

One particularly painful section of reality TV is the celebrity group, where has-beens attempt to revive their careers by publicly humiliating themselves and tarnishing any sort of legacy they may or may not have had.

MTV’s latest reality offering, There and Back, has brought this classification to a new low.

The show follows Ashley Parker Angel, former member of manufactured boy band O-Town, as he attempts to overcome the stigma of his reputation, provide for his young, broke family and achieve some semblance of legitimate musical success.

Honestly, when I first saw commercials for There and Back, I got a little excited. After seeing series after series depict how great celebrities have it and how much they love each other (at least for their two years or series of marriage before divorce), this idea seemed fresh and different.

It seemed interesting to see how the machine had actually made someone’s life worse and had closed doors for them, all while simultaneously opening the doors to MTV’s offices. But the show is actually just sad.

Angel appears to have very little musical and songwriting talent, his relationship with the mother of his unborn child comes off as high school at best and even worse, he seems to be oblivious to all of this.

Truthfully, it’s a perfect opportunity for a serious and thoughtful examination of what life is like when you find stardom in an artificial way only to discover that you’ve peaked at 22 and you’re alone and broke.

It could show the truth about how reality television and shows like Making the Band and American Idol can ruin the lives of real people.

Unfortunately, There and Back doesn’t even attempt to accomplish this.

The tone is one of sunny Californian perfection and no different from any other celebreality show. The show comes off as nothing other than a charity allowing Angel to put food on the table for his family. It’s laughable, cynical and nearly unwatchable.

One particularly hilarious element is that Angel possesses the Zach Morris-esque ability to freeze time and talk to the camera about current situations.

But whereas Saved By The Bell often used this feature for comedy or irony, There and Back seems to do it in complete seriousness, evoking groans of pain and embarrassment from viewers across the country.

However, there is hope for reality television, and this hope is called Project Runway.

Bravo’s creative and flawlessly-executed show follows 12 aspiring fashion designers as they compete in different design challenges for $100,000 to start their own clothing label. It recently entered its second season and is better than ever.

While the topic of fashion design at first might not seem to be of interest to that many people, myself included, the show makes it fascinating by providing a unique look into what it takes to be a great fashion designer.

It accomplishes this because, unlike There and Back, it gets it right.

Project Runway doesn’t treat its subject with an inappropriate tone of either excessive seriousness or undue levity, nor does it concentrate solely on the drama and conflicts between competitors like so many reality shows do.

Rather, it focuses on the skill and talent possessed by the competitors that is necessary to win the challenges.

When watching, I find myself endlessly impressed by what these people are able to do in the unglamorous setting of a workroom with a few sewing machines and dress figures.

At the same time, it is seeping in suspense and intrigue, as it is never clear who is going to make it to the next round and you find yourself really getting attached to the characters.

Plus, Heidi Klum is the host. What better reality could there possibly be? Check it out for yourself Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. on Bravo.