EJ Johnson
When “Rich Kids of Beverly Hills” started telecasting some seasons ago, the new reality TV series “shocked” viewers into rapt attention.
Who were these rich and bitchy teens and young adults yakking and yelping and shopping all over the place, “feeling entitled” and obviously with gazillions of dollars and euros and bitmoney to burn?
It turned out that they were indolent offspring of billionaires and show biz and sports stars who knew that money means power and cachet and the ability to get whatever they want, or fantasize about possessing!
This confidence in their special, privileged status made them act and talk like neo princes and princesses born with diamond spoons in their mouths, turning most everybody off.
But, they kept viewers raptly watching, to make sure they wouldn’t miss the spoiled, young, modern “royals” latest verbal excesses and million-dollar shopping sprees!
This addictive viewing cachet is reminiscent of the perverse appeal of an older TV hit, the “Real Housewives” series of shows set in different wealthy enclaves and “gated” communities.
The rich and spoiled older women in those “reality” productions similarly turn viewers on by turning them off, with their producers laughing cynically and hysterically all the way to the bank.
Now it’s their kids’ time to get the share of the lurid TV spotlight, in even more cynical cognizance of the fact that many televiewers are teens or millennials, so they would love to see even younger spendthrifts to diss and enviously hate on the screen!
They get that and more on “Rich Kids of Beverly Hills,” so the show has also become a hit. In fact, it’s so successful that it has spawned a spin-off, “EJNYC,” again on E!
It topbills tall, black and gay scion EJ Johnson, whose dad with the deepest possible pockets is no less than sports star Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
EJ was one of the most colorful finds on “Rich Kids,” so it’s no surprise that he now has his own show, this time in the Big Apple, for him to more definitely make his stellar mark.
The action has shifted to New York City because EJ wants to make it big in the fashion industry. EJ’s costar is companionably and appropriately rich-b*tch sister Elisa, who spends a fortune on the latest fashions, and parties all night—all the way up to brunch!
What’s instructive about “EJNYC” is the fact that its titular star is much less off-putting here than he’s been on “Rich Kids.”
In fact, the new production goes out of its way to show how “really nice” and “misunderstood” he’s been all this time!
Won’t the radical clean-up makeover unduly distract from the show’s “love to hate” appeal?
Not to worry, that’s being supplied by a fresh crop of even more insufferable hangers-on, who are similarly wealthy, indolent, nasty, loud, shallow, irresponsible, hateful and abusive—etc.!