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Why shouldn't you make fun of "Amish in the City?"

Published Wednesday, July 28, 2004 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

The new "reality" show that debuts tonight on UPN might get a lot of flack and funny-ha-ha comments from the media. But Amish in the City tackles a fascinating subject. The Amish community allows its young men and women to experience, albeit briefly, time outside the traditional no-tech borders before committing to a life of Amishness. The test of faith is called rumspringa. Of course, UPN is adding the TV docudrama spin to the Amish rite of passage, spicing things up by having a select group of Amish youth live "Real World" style with a cast of a half-dozen typical "reality" TV types. If you want to see a more realistic portrayal of Amish teens living out of their element, watch the 2002 documentary film, Devil's Playground. Fun fact number 1: The movie and the TV show share a producer, so perhaps the show won't completely stink up the airwaves. Fun fact number 2: Then again, it is on UPN.