Premiere Watch '09: The Beautiful Life

The Beautiful Life: TBL:

"Pilot"

I really rather liked the pilot of The Beautiful Life. I was expecting to enjoy it, but I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it because it was good or if I'd enjoy it because it was so bad and campy that it was entertaining. Turns out, it was pretty good.

Granted, the whole thing with Chris' disapproving Iowan farmer dad seemed a little tired and all of the modeling agents were skeazy and not particularly interesting, but there were some interesting developments. I was actually pretty shocked by the reveal that Sonja's time away from modeling was due to her having a secret baby. The rehab rumor just seemed likely. Also, I'm interested to find out who Raina's dad is. Mafia boss? Very rich white collar criminal?

And I liked this pilot because, heaven help me, I love that Mischa Barton. I admit that she's not the world's best actress and she's had some troubled times in real life, but I just like her. I'm sure my allegiance to her is in no small part due to her having played one of the main characters (Marissa Cooper) in one of my favorite shows of all time (The O.C.), but I do think there's more to it than that.

Also, I think the people in charge of The Beautiful Life should really stop trying to make "The Beautiful Life: TBL" happen. Either go with The Beautiful Life or TBL, we don't need both. It's redundant.

Highlights and my other thoughts:

• Timely scheduling of this pilot: it depicts NY Fashion Week '09 during NY Fashion Week. (Ignoring the fact that the fashion week actually going on in real life was for Spring '10, while the clothes they were wearing were from Zac Posen's Fall '09 collection (Exhibits A, B, and C). But that's ok, we don't have to think about it that hard.)
• Zac Posen! I read that his NY Fashion Week show started at 9 a.m. this year.
• Shouldn't Zac screen his looks a bit earlier than right before the model walks onto the runway? "Take this necklace and make it into a belt"? What?!
• I don't blame Mischa/Sonja for not making it to the Posen show if it was at 9 a.m.
• Do radio stations really give live updates from fashion shows?
• I'm sorry, but Corbin Bleu doesn't look like a model to me. He's too short, right? How tall are male models supposed to be?
• Aww, Chris is from Iowa. That's so cliche.
• More MGMT? I mean, I love "Time to Pretend" just as much as or more than the next girl, but is Zac Posen seriously using a year-old song to showcase his signature look?
• Do fashion show attendees really jump to their feet, applauding and cheering when some confetti falls from the ceiling? That seems like seriously un-chic behavior.
• Zac's clothes got some nice exposure from this.
• I just love Mischa's somewhat affected/stilted manner of speaking (sometimes it sounds like she's using an accent, sometimes not). It rather fits this role.
• Hope Chris wore presentable undies today.
• Ahh, good, I was hoping that wasn't Chris' pink cell phone.
• Maybe Isaac's been having trouble finding work because he's too short. (Or maybe designers just don't want their clothes associated with this. Personally, I've come to regard it as something of a modern masterpiece.)
• Ohhh, Isaac was a child model who "hasn't quite crossed over yet." That explains it.
• And he's a musician. Here's a thought: if he's not doing well at modeling and he wants to be a musician, why doesn't he just go try to be a musician?
• Cole (Nico Tortorella) is hot. Why does he look familiar? Wait! It's because he played Pizza Guy #1 on Make It Or Break It!!! So I guess this explains why that dude completely disappeared after only a few episodes and had to be replaced by Pizza Guy #2. Geez, I thought he was kind of cute on MIOBI, but he's super hot on TBL. Emily Kmetko's loss!
• Ick. Simon is sleazy.
• Sonja's wearing "the new Versace"! (Which, by the way, was from the Versace Spring '09 collection, so it's a year old and not so new after all.) How'd she get it? She has a "relationship with security" at the photographer's hotel. That's shady.
• Cole just ordered a 7 and 7. How Atwood-ian of him. (Sorry, my only experience with that drink comes from The O.C.)
• Marissa: "Coke is so '80s!" (I only find that quote interesting because I just finished reading Bright Lights, Big City in preparation for the upcoming Josh Schwartz film adaptation.)
• Raina is either a very sympathetic, caring person or oddly infatuated with Sonya.
• Is Raina really 16? Huh, no wonder her brother was supposed to take care of her.
• Sonja's baby-daddy has the initial R. (Unless Raina really is a creepy stalker and sent the flowers.)
• Uh oh, it's only the first episode and Mischa's already going berserk and throwing things. It took her until the Season 2 premiere to get to that point on The O.C. (the pool chair incident), and a lot of crap happened to her on The O.C....
• How old is Chris supposed to be?
• Is Raina's floor really going to be any more comfortable than the bench?

Premiere Rating: 7.5/10

(photo: cwtv.com)