Review: MySpace's Roommates
MySpace's Roommates rips off The Hills. That's ok. It doesn't take a wonder of production profundity -- or some special insight into the mammalian psyche-slash-boxer shorts -- to make apple-cheeked, pearl-teethed, nubile girls in bikinis alluring, bankable fare. It's simple T&A. No, no, wait. It's T&A and -- this being MySpace -- it's also interactive.
Let's start there. Roommates is a scripted faux reality show about eight post-college girls (four in an LA house, four mysteriously cavorting elsewhere) that promises character profiles, vlogs, and the opportunity for the audience to affect the storyline. IOW: You get to tell hot girls on camera what to do. Sort of like webcam stripping, but with a thin patina of MySpace respectability and a major advertiser (Ford).
There isn't much of a story so far to interact with. The season opens with a short introduction to the girls, who prance around their house in booty shorts and lingerie. There's a tiny dog. The girls fart on each other. That's episode one. Episode two's a girl's-night-in party which ends, apparently, with one of the girls (Heather) going out afterwards and hooking up. We find that out in episode three, in which the girls talk in the kitchen. Episode four: The girls watch TV. Episode five: The girls play in the hot tub. If you suspect I'm not doing the story justice, simple say "peace out, bitches" five times and you've reiterated the entirety of the dialogue.
There is one other component to the story. According to the storyline, the person filming Roommates is a pleasant looking fella named Justin, the girls' best male friend from college. Justin doesn't appear on camera. He doesn't talk. He's just always there. Kinda like Tom on MySpace.
If there's one thing that will save Roommates from complete mediocrity, it will be the interactive component. One worries, though, that this time MySpace is relying too much on that, to the detriment of creating something an audience would want to interact with in the first place.
[view the site | read about Roommates at hollywoodreporter.com]
