Not sure what prompted me to watch Amish in the City, the new UPN documentary series, but I enjoyed it. My expectation was that the producers would take every opportunity to show the Amish cast bewildered and befuddled by the modern world's sophisticated, complicated way of life (note the sarcastic tone), but that turned out not to be the case at all. Instead, it seems to be about prejudice and intolerance. There's the easy division between Amish and city kids, but even the city kids have their own labels they have to overcome. There's the Gay Guy, the Party Girl, the Militant Vegan who believe cows originated in outer space... There's even a guy from Las Vegas who, right up front, brings up the stereotype that everyone from here lives and works in a casino, and everybody's mother is a stripper.

I think I've made it pretty clear that "reality TV," as a genre, isn't something that particularly interests me. Most of the silly competition type ones (Fear Factor, Who Would Want to Marry My Dad, any of the love ones, really) turn me off, because they just feel so superficial and overblown. I like The Amazing Race, because a race around the world is pretty spectacular. I like Joe Schmo, because it uses the tropes of typical reality TV to create an interesting comedic situation, mixing reality and artificiality. And I liked the first episode of Amish in the City, because it feels like it's about something more than just throwing people together and watching sparks fly.