‘Reality TV’ hits rock bottom with ‘Room Raiders’

I’m amazed at MTV’s ability to rummage through the dumpsters of New York to find ideas for their television shows. Did it really take a team of “creative types” to come up with the idea for Cribs — a television show where cameramen follow celebrities through their homes? It’s clear MTV saves a bundle on writers it never hires to actually script shows.

MTV’s latest foray into the garbage dump of television shows comes with the airing of Room Raiders. What could be more interesting than getting three guys together to watch a woman on a closed-circuit camera rummage through their rooms? After she’s done, the guys get to ransack her abode, and when they’re all done plowing through the dirty dinner plates hidden in dresser drawers, searching the bookmarks in their Internet settings (which are usually full of porn) and using a black light to find protein stains on the bed sheets, the one woman will have to use what she “knows” about the guys through their bedrooms to choose the one she’ll go on a date with.

The most interesting part of the show, of course, is watching these 20-something fools nose around one another’s bedrooms. What viewers learn is that most of the young people on the show are shallow, self-obsessed slobs. Granted, the girl gets to choose her date based not on his physical looks (all photos of would-be suitors are hidden while their rooms are raided) but on the possessions he owns, his tidiness and his interests. But what can be said for guys whose rooms should be condemned by local health officials? I can’t imagine that an entire dresser full of expensive colognes is a good way to base a decision on whether or not someone is dateable. (As a matter of fact, wouldn’t it mean the guy was pretty stinky?)

Ultimately, all of the guys’ rooms are very similar. What the show does is offer MTV a chance to show the world how dirty some young people are while satiating the desire of its viewers to be voyeurs. Imagine if your son were on this show and the entire world saw that his favorite web site featured nude, decapitated twins in nylon stockings? Scary.

The show also works in reverse; one guy will go through three girls’ rooms where the guys put on bras and mock boy bands. Not funny.

For the worst in reality TV shows, tube into MTV’s Room Raiders weekdays at 4:30 p.m. MTV continues to set the bar lower and lower.