review - as seen on tv

“As Seen on TV”
By Sarah Mlynowski
(Red Dress Ink)

Twenty-four year old Sunny Langstein is at that awkward age between college and being a grown up. She still wears the built in retainer from her days in braces, she’s stuck in an entry level job at a beverage company, and has a firm belief that “one day, [she’ll] do something real.” The most real thing she’s doing at the moment, though, is quitting her job in Florida to move in with her long distance boyfriend in New York City. Desperate when her scheduled job in NYC falls through, she’s at a loss until her father’s new girlfriend offers Sunny a job on the new reality show “Party Girls”—not as an assistant as she first suspects, but as one of the titular “girls.”

Sunny has never been one for fashion or glamour, but as quick as a wink she’s soaking up all the perks of being on reality TV: makeovers, painful brazilian waxes, free clothes, attention from celebrities. The only hitch—as one of the four members of the “Party Girls” team she has to pretend she’s single, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend, Steve.

Sunny quickly steps into the role of “Sunny Lang,” reality star extraordinaire and “mother hen,” alongside her costars—each of whom fulfill an archetype of the reality show world: Brittany, the drunk; Erin, the slut; Michelle, the beauty. Along the way, Sunny becomes hilariously obsessed as to what others think of her TV alter ego. (“There is no way I’m going to admit that I do Internet searches on my name. Very uncool. I’m a TV star. Jennifer Aniston does not search the internet for her name.”) What began as a ten-week temporary job soon threatens to overtake her life.

When “Party Girls” is forced under threat of cancellation to become a “winner takes all” competition for “Ultimate Party Girl,” Sunny is determined to win at any cost. Even if it means she loses her boyfriend in the process.

“As Seen on TV” doesn’t break any new ground in the chick lit world, but it is a nice departure from Mlynowski’s previous bland offerings, “Milkrun” and “Fishbowl.” She has an excellent handle on the confusion experienced by many mid-twenty somethings, as well as offering hilariously biting commentary on the stereotypes and conventions of reality television. (“What if you end up villainized like Geri [sic] from Survivor or that Simon guy?” Sunny’s sister asks at one point. “You’re not going to pose for Playboy, are you? And look at the Real World people now. They’re always whining.”)

Fans of reality TV and Sex and the City will appreciate this fictional glimpse into how one woman got carried away by her fifteen minutes of fame…and how she found her way back to reality.