I'll be honest. I'm really not a huge fan of reality television. What I can't stand about it has to do with just how stupid some of the premises of reality shows can be. In addition, a lot of reality series tend to take the same approach. Producers tend to go out of their way to cast a bunch of people who are always at odd ends with each other. The resulting interpersonal conflicts make for a lot of bitching and moaning, which for some odd reason, always comes off entertaining. Well, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica is no exception. There is plenty of conflict in this series, but it's at a much different level. However, before we really dive into that, let's talk about just what this series is about.

Now if you don't know who Nick and Jessica are, well you may have been living under a rock for the last few years. Nick Lachey is the teeny bopper from the boy band 98 Degrees and Jessica Simpson is the blonde bombshell pop star. This reality series begins right after Nick and Jessica tie the knot. All it's about is the newlywed couple getting along in various aspects of their relationship and overcoming the "hardships" of marriage. However, the problems that Nick and Jessica face are little far from what most individuals living in the real world have to face. Still, it's very entertaining to watch the newlywed couple, because some of the "problems" they deal with are handled in such a pathetic manner that it is downright entertaining.

The major reason that this series comes off as entertaining is that watching Nick and Jessica is so pathetic that it is entertaining. For instance, the first season opens with Nick and Jessica suffering a dreaded problem. Nick's a neat freak and Jessica is a spoiled brat. She never took care of herself and doesn't seem to want to even try. It's just pathetic. It's situations like these that leave your eyes rolling with disgust, but at the same time making you feel compelled to watch more. In addition to the rather pathetic moments, the two occasionally have some very ridiculous and funny conversations, where some of the most outrageously dumb things are said.

The bottom line is that Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica is a pretty entertaining series. The first season, while a short ten episodes, at its low price it's definitely worth it. I was happily surprised with first season and look forward to seeing what future seasons has in store for the newlyweds.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in its original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The picture quality is pretty good. The image remains fairly sharp with detail looking crisp and clean.

Audio:
The audio is given in English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo sound. The audio track is dialogue driven, but is supplemented with plenty of background music. The music came off fairly rich and vibrant. For the dialogue, I noticed that sometimes there tended to be varying sound levels. During voiceovers the sound came off very loud and clear, but some dialogue during the actual footage came off a little too quiet because the microphone did not pick it up. However, this did not occur often enough to be a real problem.

Extras:
The special features included are pretty slim. The first extra is solely for the fans of Nick and Jessica. It's an interview of the two discussing their relationship from the beginning to the marriage. The next extra is "Easter Egg Hunt", which is almost five minutes of "never before seen footage" of the couple's first Easter holiday together. The next two extras are montages of clips from the first season, which respectively cover Nick and Jessica as "Nick Moments" and "Jessica Moments". I found that the "Jessica Moments" was the most exciting, because she made some pretty ridiculous statements. The next up, we have two music videos for Jessica's 'Sweetest Sin' and Nick's 'Shut Up'. The last extras aren't much in the way of special features, it's standard and boring biographies and trailers for Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen and Dave, MTV's Punk'd, MTV Yoga, MTV Pilates, and MTV Pilates Mix.

Final Thoughts:
Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica is far from what I would consider quality programming. However, just how pathetic some of the situations come off make it very entertaining. You'll roll your eyes in disgust, while at the same time demanding more. There's enough "quality" programming to keep you entertained for a few hours and more.