werkz advice: worth watching, though not every week.

Imagine a character who's desperate to keep his personal wealth a secret in the interest of finding true love. In order to achieve this (somewhat laudable) goal, he engages in a fairly large lie. No, I'm not talking about Joe Fox from the Nora Ephron chick-flick You've Got Mail. I'm referring to FOX's newest reality show: Joe Millionaire. The premise is simple: an average Joe is taken from his low-paying construction job, given a crash-course in how the top .001% live, and told to lie to 20 women about a supposed inheritance of $50 million. Oh, and to weed out the women, Survivor-style, until only one remains, at which point he'll have to expose the lie.

Sound perverse? You bet! Although I'm not a big fan of reality tv shows, I have always admired FOX's ability to showcase these programs for what they are: cheap sensationalism. What is running under the surface of 'The Bachelor' simply gets aired in the open in 'Joe Millionaire', which makes me glad because no one can pretend that true love is anywhere near this sordid idea. Joe's faux butler, who organizes almost everything on the show, gets to delight in telling women they've been rejected, or in showing Joe how to behave as a uber-wealthy person.

But by far, the show is best because it is so ordinary. Joe can't ride a horse well. The women manage to break an expensive lamp as soon as they arrive at the chateau. Joe almost loses his cool when a woman asks him his last name. The women (most, not all!) show up to the house dressed as inappropriately as possible, as if they could seduce him in the first five minutes. Joe agonizes about the lie. Oh, the humanity! All of these are traits which regular people exhibit, not those on television. The contestants, and Joe himself, are simply regular people, which makes their humiliation somewhat bearable.

The major flaw, of course, is that the entire appeal of the show rests on a small lie. Episodes in which Joe acts rich and the women buy it wholeheartedly are sure to be boring. Episodes (like the opener with Joe almost falling off his horse) where Joe flubs or the women suspect, will be great. With that caveat, I'm sure the entire run will provide plenty of fodder for both sides. Unlike those 'nice' shows, Joe will deliver what it promises: tawdry entertainment.