fauxyal, "fake royal"

[Geoffrey Nunberg]

I Wanna Marry “Harry,” which starts tonight on Fox, is the most brazenly morally bankrupt reality show to air on network television since the lawless years of the early aughts. Back when the wildly successful first seasons of Survivor set off a bonanza for the format, producers pretty freely explored just how distasteful a show could be before it became too distasteful. It was a muck-burrowing period that sludged upon us Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?, Temptation Island, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, Joe Millionaire—of which I Wanna Marry “Harry” is just an update with a fauxyal—and ended with The Swan, a plastic surgery makeover show that still retains the dubious distinction of being the vilest reality show ever to exist.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/pzlly39

Apparently a one-off, though “fauxroyal” is out there.

(I’m not sure about " the most brazenly morally bankrupt reality show…” Does the brazenness make it worse or better?)

Geoff

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