TLC, I want my money back.
I didn’t actually pay to watch the first episode of “Welcome to Myrtle Manor” Sunday night.
But given that I can’t have that hour of my life back, I think I need to be compensated.
I had one big worry before the 10-episode TV show, which was shot in a Myrtle Beach mobile home park, began airing: It would unduly add to the stereotypical image of working class whites.
It didn’t.
It broached the subject of how a tenant could possible defecate and shower – at the same time.
Why anyone would want to do that is beyond me, too.
It didn’t add to stereotypes about the “Redneck Riviera,” because it felt more like a campy B movie with D actors than a genuine slice of unique Myrtle Beach life.
And it’s no threat to the high-powered brand that is Myrtle Beach’s tourism market, because it felt more like staged than reality TV.
It didn’t add even an ounce of entertainment value to my life.
It was a guilty pleasure without the pleasure.
The first episode almost put me out. I didn’t turn it off because I felt obligated to watch the entire thing.
But once it was finished, I wondered why I had bothered.
I should have taken a cue from my wife, who was asleep before the first commercial break.
There were few things I remembered from the first episode.
Two young women called themselves trailer park entrepreneurs because of their plan to sell hot dogs.
There was a security guard playing the role of Barney Fife.
There was a no-nonsense businessman-of-a-father telling his fur-wearing-in-the-summer daughter to buck up and take trailer park ownership seriously.
There was a grandma who stripped to her skivvies to jump into an above-ground-pool installed specifically for the show.
And there was lots of talk about how insulting one member of the trailer park meant insulting them all.
Promos for future shows indicate they will at least show some of Myrtle Beach, including the boardwalk and beaches.
Showcasing the area’s beauty nationally can’t be that bad of a thing, even if that promotion comes via a snooze-fest of a misnamed reality show.
Contact ISSAC J. BAILEY at ibailey@thesunnews.com or at Twitter at @TSN_IssacBailey.
