Reality shows can make for strangely compelling viewing, if only because they are so awful and the lives of those they feature are so bizarre and so very far removed from our own reality as to be totally unreal.
I'll confess I have on occasion become quite transfixed by the preposterous dramas of the "real housewives" from one or the other city in the US or the shenanigans of the "stars" of the likes of Jersey Shore. I'm transfixed because I find it unbelievable that there are people who actually live like this.
I'm not so sure I'll be able to stomach the latest addition to this ridiculous stable of reality shows, however. It may be too much to bear.
Yes, first there was Jersey Shore, then came Britain's version, Geordie Shore, now we face the prospect of the Australian version, dubbed The G.C. as in Gold Coast.
That it will be cringe-worthy is a given, featuring as it will, young people behaving badly and living lives entirely removed from the real world. Where the real cringe factor comes in for those of us on this side of the Tasman is the fact that the "stars" of this new show, which starts this week, are Kiwis, living large on the Gold Coast.