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Why Is The Cast Of Bravo’s “Start Ups: Silicon Alley” So Uniformly Unpleasant?

In all the election hubbub, it was easy to the miss the debut of a new show on Bravo, “Start-Ups: Silicon Alley.” We didn’t miss it, unfortunately, though we kind of wish we had. Feast your eyes:

Oh, boy. Now, the premise of the show is actually pretty interesting, and certainly better than, say, “Gallery Girls.” But couldn’t Bravo have found some smart people working in tech who weren’t so nakedly in love with themselves? After watching the premiere episode I would have to say I have the most affection for Kim Taylor, who takes great pains to assure the viewers (and…herself?) that she is a separate entity from the “nerds,” but it’s possible she just looks better given the company she keeps. There’s Dwight, the programmer/entrepreneur who is exhausting to watch on television — I can’t imagine what five minutes in person would be like; the twins Hermione and Ben, with their odd Parent Trap backstory and tendency to sleep on the floor in conference rooms where they’re going to be pitching their product to investors; and of course Sarah, who lives in the Four Seasons in exchange for social media consulting work for the hotel, like some kind of modern day Sister Carrie, and who is also at the very least edited to seem like a sociopath. There’s also Ben. he seems fine.

The world these characters inhabit seems like one where unprofessionalism and an abrasive personality are forms of currency, and while that may make for good reality television (the sizzle reel for the season certainly makes it appear so) it’s unlikely to impress anyone unfamiliar with Silicon Valley start-up culture. There are plenty of polite, interesting and still very smart people working in Silicon Valley — I guess they were just bypassed in favor of the crazies.

TAGS: Start-Ups

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