I am – Hercules!!
It’s a “Punk’d”-like reality show from “Punk’d” mastermind Ashton Kutcher about a troupe of actors who prank groomsmen and bridesmaids by making those groomsmen and bridesmaids think they’ve helped wreck the bride’s wedding dress or screwed up the timing of the hall rental. MTV’s “Punk’d” I find enjoyable more times than not, and I think Kutcher’s “Beauty and the Geek” is one of the most entertaining reality shows anywhere on the tube; “The Real Wedding Crashers,” or at least the episode I saw, is barely watchable. Part of the problem is the people being pranked are regular people – not celebrities – which means the show is mining a vein exhausted by “Candid Camera” decades ago. A far bigger problem is the fun of the payoff is severely dampened by the fact that the prankees don’t find out they’ve been pranked until hours or days subsequent to the prankings. The urgency of the faux mayhem has long passed, so there’s no real explosion of relief and good-natured fist-shaking. The wedding theme is also perhaps trouble, as it seems to hamstring creatively those who conceive the pranks. Also, since the pranksters were invited by the bride and groom, even the show’s title makes no sense. The most insidious prank is on NBC’s viewership; the troubled network took off “Studio 60” for this dreck. But what matters Herc’s opinion? Variety says:

… wheezes and labors in building toward the inevitable reveal -- representing a slog for the modest payoff. … You can sense the conceit is running out of steam, though, given how frantically the show begins pointing toward the reveal, teasing it at practically every act break. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… Desperate times evidently call for desperate shows. And even though things aren't quite as desperate at NBC as they were a year or two ago, this quasi-reality trifle smacks of something you would do if you had tried and struck out with everything else. … the first installment of this six-part midseason hourlong series implodes on pretty much every level. …

The New York Times says:

… It’s still not entirely clear why Derek and Jonnie, the likeable and laid-back couple in the premiere episode, agreed to allow a reality show to infiltrate and undermine their ceremony, though that they both come from Las Vegas, the land of Elvis-impersonating ministers, may explain a lot. Nevertheless they and their friends and relatives are too nice and too humble to make the wedding crashers really fun for viewers. The pranks would be more amusing if pulled on a more pompous and pretentious wedding party. But people who want to be on “The Real Wedding Crashers” are a self-selecting subset … Weddings tend to all look alike, no matter how personalized the party favors. Too many crashed weddings can become a crashing bore. …

The New York Post says:

Call it the corporatization of "Punk'd," or maybe just call it a big stinkola. I'm talking about the latest and worst of the shows that the very desperate NBC has put into the 10 p.m. Monday night slot. … Maybe it's time to give the time slot over to informercials. It would actually be less painful to see some skeevy muscle guy all slicked up with oil than watch this mess. The hour has become The Black Hole of Despair. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… They punk their friends and loved ones! And God too! "The Real Wedding Crashers," a reality-show riff on the hit movie, isn't as lowbrow as it sounds, nor "crazy" (again my quotes); the comedy, such as it is, veers from slightly inspired to lame. … Sacha Baron Cohens-in-waiting they're not. …

The Washington Post says:

NBC's latest experiment in desperation air fare, "The Real Wedding Crashers," is an HD broadcast: Hugely Dumb. The network, which recently celebrated its worst week of prime-time ratings ever, isn't going to climb out of any sewers with this slimy little gutter-dweller.… It's sometimes been the case in movies and television that tastelessness has its own inherent crude energy, but not "Wedding Crashers." It manages to be that rare bird (but maybe not rare enough), a boring horror. …

The Boston Herald says:

Ashton Kutcher has snared many stars in mortifying situations in his MTV show “Punk’d,” but his latest series marks the first time an entire network has been pranked. NBC’s “The Real Wedding Crashers” is by several stretch limos the worst TV series of the entire season.… …

The Boston Globe says:

My first impulse was to describe "The Real Wedding Crashers" as "juvenile," but the word could possibly imply that there might be a hint of a chance of fun, and that would be misleading. Also, "juvenile" carries with it a superior tone that I should probably save up for more worthy idiocy, such as "Flavor of Love," which is dumb and irritating but somehow not quite as far beneath contempt. And so I turned to a pair of "dis" words -- "disastrous" and "disappointing" …

Yikes! Did you read that New York Times piece? $27,000 is the average price of an American wedding, excluding honeymoon, engagement ring and bridal consultant! And a lot of us get married more than once! So quit your bitching about not being able to afford a $1,600 HD set!! 10 p.m. Monday. NBC.

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