NYC Prep Doesn’t Care What You Think

Last night, along with a packed house of dubious looking adults and a few reporters furiously scribbling notes, I attended a screening of Bravo’s new show NYC Prep at the Paley Center for Media.  The program is a “docu-drama” following the lives of 6 teens who live in New York City’s wealthy enclave, the Upper East Side.

The show is typical Bravo rich people porn: the girls in designer clothes, the kids eat dinner at some of the pricest places in town, hang out in their parents giant penthouse apartments, compare summer homes, and are driven around by chaffeurs. The drama appears to focus on PC and Jessi, a male and female best friend pairing that is in constant conflict because Jessi is clearly in love with him.  There’s also the issue of PC being a huge tool, throwing a water bottle at Jessi during a fight (and then calling her the “C” word when she leaves) and calling two other cast members Camille and Kelli “young bitches” in an on screen interview when they start to bore him at dinner. The other male cast member, Sebastian is a bit more likable, if only for the ridiculousness of his persona; he calls his passion “hooking up with girls” and butters up his young dates up by speaking in French.  Like most Bravo shows, the cast members (except for PC and Jessi) weren’t friends before the show.

The most striking thing about the NYC Prep kids is that they all sound and dress like adults in their mid 30s.  While in conversation, they seem to also exhibit some of the vacant stares and empty chatter that dominates shows like The Hills, in on screen interviews, they are far more articulate to their West Coast counterparts. This is in sharp contrast to their incredibly youthful faces, free of the cosmetic surgery and enhancements we have come to expect from our Bravo stars.  This contrast is what makes this show work; it’s why it’s fun to see a toddler dole out life advice or wear a business suit. While a part of you wants to hate the NYC Prep cast members for not knowing just how good they have it, another part of you wants to pick them up and say “OMG HOW CUTE!” when listening to a 16 year old talk about how he’s just not ready for a relationship right now, maybe he’ll be ready when he’s older, say the ancient age of 25.

After the premiere of the show, we were treated to a panel with 4 of the cast members, Andy Cohen of Bravo, Lenid Rolov executive producer (former producer of Growing Up Gotti & The Hills) and Tim Stack of Entertainment Weekly.  The panel took us through the show’s creation (a tape made by the producers, also former Upper East Side citykids) and they fielded the most obvious question: how is this any different from Gossip Girl? The answer, said Lenid Rolov, was that the wealth flaunted on GG would never happen in real life. No one would be so gauche as to brag about their summer houses or events they went to; it’s just accepted as a part of life. For example, PC (pictured below) was heading straight to the event from his private plane, a fact he would never tell anyone just offhand.

Another interesting fact divulged was the Real Housewives of New York City connection: cast member Kelli was brought to the show by her classmate Ally Zarin, Jill Zarin’s daughter (Andy joked that Jill was probably taking credit for the entire show). The rest of the kids made it in via where else but Facebook.

The second most obvious question is when do these high school kids, you know, go to school? The entire premiere episode was like a teen version of Sex and The City, with the cast members going to art openings, bars and expensive restaurants, glasses of water replacing the omnipresent martinis. The kids answered, already trained in Bravo-ese, to “watch what happens” and that academics will be shown more prominently in future episodes. Also, as Camille pointed out, filming them studying would be totally boring. Their high school would also not allow filming in class.

When pressed about their futures and how being on a reality show could prevent them from getting into college or getting a job, the cast of NYC Prep didn’t seem to care.  Camille, who talked about wanting to get into Harvard in the premiere, said that most likely in a few years, people will forget about the show and that she was ever on it. Taylor said, “None of us care what people think of us. Or else we wouldn’t have done this.” While I believe that, these are also kids who will never have to really worry about their future. It’s already been written for them by their parents. NYC Prep will likely be a blip on the radar of an already incredibly lucky life.

[Images: Bravo/NBC Universal]