MTV: Scared Straight

Posted by James Poniewozik Monday, March 12, 2007 at 3:02 pm

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Is MTV having a crisis of conscience? I've become hooked, lately, on two of MTV's latest reality shows, Juvies and Engaged & Underage. (MTV shows are ideal for storing up on Tivo, because the channel has one of the highest commercial-to-program ratios on cable.) The former show, shot in raw documentary style, looks at the wrenching effects on teens and their families of ending up in juvenile prison. The latter, a little sunnier in style but maybe more chilling in effect, tells mini-stories of young adults between 18 and 22 who get married young, often as a result of getting knocked up, as in one show about a former pageant queen who's marrying the babydaddy of her two kids: "You're going from young and having fun to being grounded." (You can find one couple's wedding blog here.)

Engaged does a nice job of balancing its tone--it's not so moralistic as to turn off the channel's audience, and it even has a sense of humor. (Over the credits, we see a parked car, rocking on its springs in the don't-come-a-knockin' sense, and a finger traces "JUST ENGAGED" on the fogged-up window.) But it doesn't skimp on the realities of young marriage and parenthood, as couples barely old enough not to be someone else's dependents find themselves arguing over money and babysitters.

The shows are fascinating enough in themselves, but they really stand out because of the context--most of the rest of MTV's reality shows are about wanting possessions and sex, and these are about the consequences of wanting them too badly. It's a successful combination, and somebody must have noticed: NBC just announced the pickup of a British reality show, "The Baby Borrowers," in which teen couples must care for an infant ("donated" by its parents for the show).

I'll be curious to see if a big network, which will probably feel pressure to amp up the drama and stress, will be able to handle the subject as deftly as MTV's surprising series has. On Engaged & Underage, you have a sense that the couples aren't quite aware what they're in for, and they often seem beaten and tired before their time; but they also come across as willing to work on their relationships and accept the consequences of their decisions. As they call it on MTV, that's The Real World.