IN the world of reality TV, the general rule seems to be to keep “reality” as fake as possible, create as many ridiculous situations as possible, be sure that the “stars” are self-promoters who will do and say anything to get their (usually) surgically altered mugs in front of the cameras as often and as shamelessly as possible.
And when reality involves teens, it only gets worse.
Remember “Growing Up Gotti“? The producers made the kids look like publicity-hungry thugs who were so inarticulate they had to have subtitles. In reality, the kids were always polite – at least to me.
So it is incredibly refreshing to see that MTV has gone reality one better – literally – with “Life of Ryan” about Ryan Sheckler, a 17-year-old skateboarding phenom who is both a regular kid and a famous, world-class athlete.
OK, so right off, I know what you’re thinking: skater dude with agents, managers, world-wide travel, endorsement deals and an entourage to call his own.
And you’d be almost right.
While Ryan of Southern California does have most of that, he also has parents who are divorcing, two younger brothers whom he dotes on and watches constantly and a terrible longing for a girl in his class who doesn’t long him back.
A 17-year-old girl who picks another guy over the world-class athlete and skater dude? Yup. And while we’re at it, you should know Ryan is actually the antithesis of the stereotypical skater dude. He’s a terrific, articulate guy.
In the first episode, Ryan, his two brothers, Kane and Shane, and his newly-divorced mom and dad are introduced. We learn from Ryan’s own voiceovers that he travels the world for competitions. You’d think that would be any 17-year-old boy’s dream, but sometimes he’d just rather stay home and be with his younger brothers.
“Now that I’m the man of the house, spending time with my two brothers is the most important thing,” he says. And he means it.
When the 6-year-old falls off his scooter and gets banged up, Ryan is there in a second, picking him up, kissing him, hugging him. Just adorable.
The boys are all broken up over the break-up of their parents and really upset about their impending first Christmas without dad in the house. The mom, who seems like a genuinely nice person too, tries to talk to them about it – and everyone tries to keep from crying.
Ryan would also prefer to hang with his friends than to travel, but the kid is a world-class athlete with big responsibilities.
He’s desperate not to miss his teenage years, and he decides not to go to Dubai for a big tournament so he can attend his high school formal.
As it ends up, he should have gone to Dubai. The girl he loves tells him she doesn’t love him back.
Ryan’s a throwback to a time of manners, decency and rightness in sport. Too bad we live in an age where it’s even necessary to point out what should be normal behavior.
If this weren’t a reality show, you’d think you were watching a re-run of a 1950s family drama.
Good stuff. Great kids.
“Life of Ryan”
Monday night at 10:30 on MTV