I am – Hercules!!

It’s a reality show created by Ashton “Punk’d” Kutcher about fabulous young women who team with nerdy virgins to win a quarter million bucks. And the reality-hating critics are raving!

The Hollywood Reporter says:

At last, a reality show that smacks of something remotely clever and doesn't leave you feeling in need of a long, hot shower at the end. … They open the show by introducing themselves, pairing off and getting to know each other - he hyperventilating in the company of such finely crafted estrogen, she struggling to understand what he's saying. The cruel twist: They must sleep in the same king-size bed. The torture clearly works both ways in this case. … It's all very entertaining stuff …

Variety says:

… silly and entertaining, if not one bit edifying … many of [the geeks] seem fearful they'll be alone forever -- an undercurrent of real emotion that creates some accidental moments of seriousness in an otherwise flip program.

Entertainment Weekly gives it an “A-minus” and says:

… executive producer Ashton Kutcher one-ups a well-tread genre by adding … heart. The requisite reality TV humiliations manage to help these contestants gain what other shows rip away: self-esteem (and potentially $250,000). …

USA Today gives it three stars (out of four) and says:

… Here's the shock: Beauty is sweet, funny and virtually humiliation free. Kutcher and Goldberg have dodged almost every one of the genre's negative hot buttons, and in the process they produced one of the summer's hot tickets. … Though it may give you pause that our educational system can churn out a woman who thinks Herbert Hoover was president during the Civil War, it's nice to see her partner comfort her instead of insult her. And there's something endearing about watching a spontaneous celebration between a beauty and a geek over a state abbreviation or hearing a woman insist she's going to leave the show a better person than when she went in. …

The Boston Herald says:

… this series has something missing from most reality competitions – heart … it's funny when 21-year-old Joe confesses, “Yes, I'm a virgin. No, I'm not saving myself for anyone.” … Both sides appreciate that they have much to learn from each other.

8 p.m. Wednesday. The WB.

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