“NYC Prep” Kids Live Fabulously And Don’t Apologize For Being Privileged

Last night, I got a sneak peek of Bravo’s upcoming show “NYC Prep,” and heard a little about the lives of the rich and young in a Q&A with the cast. Man, is this show going to be juicy.

The “Gossip Girl”-inspired reality show centers around six teens who live on the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan. They come from extremely wealthy families, and they’re only in touch with their own versions of reality. Jessie claims she has her own credit card but doesn’t know how much she spends each month, and she’s had a personal shopper at Barney’s since she was 13. PC talks about how easy it is to get into a good college if you make a few phone calls. Kelli lives alone in an apartment with her 18-year-old brother while their parents spend most of the week at their Hamptons home. While this may actually be how they function, it makes me want to barf.

In the season premiere, the kids go out to fabulous restaurants and meet up at bars. Though the premiere episode showed them drinking only water, a teaser mentioned fake IDs and being drunk and high—all of which are illegal, though no one seems to realize this. During the Q&A portion, someone asked the kids whether they were afraid that the show would hinder their chances of getting into college or further down the road. The cast members didn’t believe anything they did on the show would affect them. They are oblivious to rules and laws, because they seem to think they don’t apply.

As for “Gossip Girl,” most of the cast members don’t watch the show, but the ones who had seen it said they didn’t think it was anything like their lives. Lenid Rolov, an executive producer for “NYC Prep,” says the difference between Serena and the gang and the real kids is that the real ones “don’t talk about it, they just do it.” However, with PC constantly talking about money, saying things like, “I don’t want to apologize for having money—it’s good,” it’s hard to believe that assessment. Their lives are exactly like the characters’ on “Gossip Girl,” only more annoying because they’re real.

Will we tune in on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. starting on June 23? Probably. Will these little brats make us sick? Definitely. But how could we not watch a show about kids who are 10 years younger than us leading more glamorous lives than our own? Yes, that might be a twinge of jealousy you hear.

P.S. Interesting fact we learned about Kelli: She found out about casting for “NYC Prep” from the daughter of Jill Zarin (“The Real Housewives of New York”), who goes to her school. Oh, what a tangled web reality TV weaves.