‘Anything for Love’ Is Just Too Much

We have all seen our share of winners and flops in the reality TV market, but is Fox's latest attempt a fresh new idea, Anything for Love, ready to change the way we look at reality TV and maybe, just maybe the way we see ourselves? Um, no.

We meet Amy who is upset at her failing marriage and disappointed in her husband's interest in the peelers. So, to prove her point to him, she is willing to get up onstage, dance around in her underwear in front of him, his friends, and a gathering of random perverts who happen to be there that night. She learns how to dance “naughty,” she cries, she works up her nerve, and then it's show time. When the mask comes off and Matt realizes it's his soon to be ex-wife dancing for him, he's so moved he cries. They fall into each other's arms and the marriage is saved. Hoorah!

Aw, that's so nice… wait, WHAT?? Now I don't claim to be the sharpest crayon in the box, but I admit I was completely lost. As a reminder, the point that Amy is trying to convey is that she is unhappy about Matt's time at the 'Gentlemen's Club' and wants him to look at her that way instead. It's a good point, and she deserves as much and more. But by stripping for him, and his friends, at the very club he goes to, are you showing your disapproval, or are you saying, "I'm okay with what you're doing, look, I'll even go there and do it too"? If I were setting out to accomplish Amy's goals, wouldn't I take my new pole grinding skills HOME and say, "You don't have to go to sleazy strip clubs to have a good time, I can dance for you and we can have a lot of fun right here."

Or, if she had gone through with the public “dancing” and Matt had a glimpse of how wrong it all is when it's his own wife up there, and then were to swear to never go to a strip club again, that would have also been acceptable. As it is I just have to shake my head.

Next we see a generic “I'm going to trap my significant other cheating” segment that we've seen in a dozen other shows. Yawn.

Finally, we end the first episode with what has to be one of the most awkward bits of reality TV I've seen. A member of the audience, Sarah, is told that she has a secret admirer that wants to spill it for her on TV! We see a montage of pictures of Sarah with Rannick narrating about his freaky obsession over her. When he saunters on stage and says the same thing in person, he gets to stand uncomfortably in front of the world and see what she has to say. Now, I knew the answer before Sarah even spoke by the way she visibly winced at the sight of him and then twisted and turned while trying to think of a diplomatic way out, but he hung in there for the words themselves. Basically, her first impression was pretty good, second time they hooked up she lost interest, she doesn't think it's a good idea that they date.

Ow. Very, very ow. Speaking as someone who has asked someone else at one point in my life, I would say that Rannick was feeling exposed, vulnerable, and rejected. Multiplied by the millions of people watching from home, of course. Sarah has obviously never gone through this or she would never, regardless of her feelings for Rannick, put him through this. For future note, anyone reading who is asked out on television, the correct answer is, "I'm not sure, I don't really know you that well, but let's get together a few times and find out more about each other." Rannick has earned at least a night out as friends for having put himself on the line like this. If it doesn't work out, so be it, but spare him the further embarrassment of being shot down in front of the planet.

As the second episode opens, we are greeted with what proved to be the limit for me. Psycho Holly is obsessed with her ex-boyfriend Ben from a few years ago and wants him back. Well, okay, that's not so bad. Oh, actually there is the matter of his current girlfriend. I mean fiancé. So, how to convince a guy to leave his soon-to-be-wife and come back to you? Well just make a giant billboard of your FACE and drive it to his WORK and force him to take you back. Nothing says I love you and I respect you more than making a spectacle of yourself and your love interest in front of the TV viewing public. And if he declines, respecting his decision in the matter would be too easy, so make sure you become hysterical and tell him what a big mistake he's making – that will make him love you again. If he's still trying to escape this hellish nightmare you've built for him, get the host to tackle him down and force him to go through with it, since he obviously just didn't hear you right. What were you thinking, you nutbar?!?

Then we wrap it up with another "set up my cheating boyfriend with a bimbo and watch him fall for it" scene, and a guy who fails a lie detector test but is immediately forgiven anyway. You may also know it by the insider's term: pointless filler.

Did these people ever stop to think about what they were about to do, or were they so eager to be on television and do Anything For Love that it didn't matter who they embarrassed? How many of these people are going to have to find a new job tomorrow, either because they were let go, or because they can't face their coworkers' pointing and giggling. Stripper Amy? Cold Sarah? Disturbing psycho freak Holly? Eek. Just eek.

Like any genre of television, there are highs and there are lows, like Star Trek and VR5, or Seinfeld and that one episode of the Emeril sitcom. We've seen plenty of good reality TV and it's only fair we have to sit through some absolute junk. I give Anything For Love two weeks because I'm a generous person. Good thing, too – Mark Wahlberg needs to go host another Temptation Island for us.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find out about some other popular shows at our Amazing Race 4 page and our Fame page; and don't miss The Reality TV Hall of Shame. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about reality TV, be sure to check out SirLinksALot!