NYC Prep

Since Entertainment Weekly has already proclaimed it the worst show of the summer, it will be tough for anybody to underscore the horribleness of NYC Prep. Just think of it as a refresher course on why we hate the idly rich. In its pilot episode NYC Prep doesn't provide much outside of images of little twerps acting important, texting in tuxes, and shamelessly telling naive sex stories. It is as though the Real Housewives of New York have unleashed an army of shopping, lunching Mini Me's upon us.

The show follows a handful of Upper East Side prep students, all of whom are in high school, as they go about their daily lives. The problem with that is these kids really aren't that interesting. The producers try to sell us on storylines that involve deceit and betrayal, but neglect to give the viewer any contextual back-story, thus making an emotional connection impossible. The network that it airs on, Bravo, has recently developed a serious addiction to fetishizing the absurdly rich. And while this is a nation obsessed with materialism – and it is Bravo's job to give the people what they want – it is imperative for them to remember that a little entertainment mixed in could go a long way.

Now that is not to say that there isn't a compulsively watchable aspect to the show. You just want to stare at these kids the way you stare in disbelief at the guy urinating on the subway track. The worst of the bunch is an egotist name PC (for starters his name is PC, but we're going to let that slide for now) who is arrogant, uncaring and constantly pontificating. He knows, for instance, that everybody who cares about kids with cleft pallets is just faking it because it is such a trendy cause. But his appalling behavior is what makes him, along with his ex/whiny, possessive "friend" Jessie, the most fun to watch. These two seem to be the focus of the first episode and stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Sure, we meet others as well but who can tell them apart? There's Sebastian, a wannabe playboy who lectures the camera on the secrets to having sixteen sex partners a month. The occasional parent also makes an appearance and they too deserve our scorn, for it is they who are almost certainly to blame for these little monsters. Besides providing them with all this money, they also fill their kids’ heads with absurd ideas about status, wealth and success. Maybe if one of these kids were a little different then we would have a rooting interest… if one of them was anti-designer clothes or anti-living-off-their-parents-money or anti-cell phone. Oh, that's another thing, we all knew that cell phones were addictive but the stars of this show need an intervention pronto. The saddest thing of all is that this show will do just fine…beautiful jailbait swimming in cash they didn't even earn…it is perfect for our nation of voyeuristic coach potatoes. Now the only question is will it still be the summer's worst show after Dance Your Ass Off up a head of steam?

Starring: Camille Hughes, Jessica Leavitt, PC Peterson, Kelli Tomashoff, Sebastian Oppenheim

Executive Producers: Scott A. Stone and Lenid Rolov

Network: Bravo

Showtime: Tuesday 10pm