Reality TV May Have Finally Gone Too Far
I know, it doesn't seem possible. Especially coming from me, a huge fan of reality TV. But last night I accidentally watched a show that may have gone too far in messing with people on national television: Average Joe.

The premise of this show is that a beautiful girl goes on TV to find true love amongst sixteen eligible bachelors. Sounds like every other 'bachelor/bachelorette' show on the tube, right? Well, this time the pretty, young, naive girl thinks she is meeting sixteen hot guys, but instead she gets to meet a bus load of average guys.

And by 'average', NBC managed to pick out a bus load of nerds and freaks and bullies who pick on each other, then decide to like each other, then hate each other again.

Now, this might even be kind of funny if everyone understood the premise of the show from the beginning. However, it turns out the sixteen studly men had no idea that the lovelorn woman has no idea that they are not hot off the cover of GQ. They think she knows what she's in for. She thinks she's about to spend the next several weeks with hot bachelors swooning over her. It's a tragedy of immense disappointment waiting to happen. Not even I am cynical or cruel enough to find this funny.

The host of the show, none other than Kathy Griffin, joins us poolside to greet our swimsuit-clad gentleman. She explains what's going on to the guys, who take it surprisingly good humored-ly. She makes them feel special for being average, but knowing her sense of humor, I keep waiting for her to say something mean in a way that the audience gets it, but that these guys don't get. I truly felt bad for these guys. They are flat out told that they are nothing special, and that's what makes them so great. Is that a compliment??

Now, I didn't watch the entire show. But as far as I could tell, no one ever told Miss Beauty Queen that the joke is on her. She nervously walks down the steps of her TV mansion, waiting the arrival of the dudes. Where most shows deliver the contestants in a limo, these guys are delivered in a big bus. Which we find out later is to haul in the last guy of the bunch, a very tall, very non-underweight gentleman.

We see Miss Beauty Queen's face drop as she watches these guys stumble off the bus one by one. She doesn't quite know what to do as these guys each begin to realize that they have just hit the jackpot, meeting the girl they have all been dreaming about during chess club and while watching reruns of The X Files.

But, props to her because she handles the whole thing with an extreme amount of grace. She's nice, she accepts their gifts, she didn't freak out and run away. Later, she joins the party with all the guys and props to her again for showing up at all. These guys are not what she expected, yet she's out there trying to get to know them. She takes pictures with them. And genuinely seems to be enjoying their company. I have to hand it to the guys, too. They were quite charming for a bunch of misfits.

To me, this is where the show should end. One episode. Isn't it cruel to keep going with this? I mean, these guys are all in love with her, as evidenced by their camera interviews throughout the party. The four guys that were already ejected from the running were crushed. Is it wrong to toy with the emotions of these guys who have experienced rejection all their life?

But no, the previews for the rest of the season show Miss Lovely hanging out with these guys, even making out with some of them. Wha-huh? Is she for real? I mean, what did NBC tell Miss Lovely when she signed up for the show? Obviously the guys are getting what they anticipated- a chance at a hot girl. But Miss Lovely seems to be getting the raw end of the deal, even though she is trying to make the best of it.

Truly, I don't know who to feel more sorry for. These are nice guys. She seems like a nice girl. This show just seems really, really mean.

C.T.