BSTV

Reviewed by:
Patrick Richardson

A cross between Punk'd and Girls Behaving Badly, this British import lampoons the current reality trend by hatching phony premises in which unsuspecting regular Joes—and reality has-beens like Joe Millionaire—audition for parts on fake reality shows. Turns out watching showbiz wannabes squirm through awkward situations is much more fun when there's no prize waiting at the end. Producers concoct absurd fake shows like Come Fry With Me, in which contestants vie for the chance to pull the lever on a death row inmate, going so far as to demonstrate their pulling technique and even coming up with Trump-worthy catch phrases like "Fry the bastard." This alone is enough to make BSTV the best thing on VH1, but producers elevate the show from an amusing commentary on the current culture of reality TV to something far more hilarious when they punk pseudo-celebs like Survivor's Jenna Lewis, The Apprentice's Heidi Bressler, and Subway's Jared—all of whom will desperately agree to do just about anything to stretch their 15 minutes to a nice, painful 16.