Newlyweds - Nick & Jessica - The First Season

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant career move; Reality TV doesn't get any better...
Review: ...than this! When I heard that Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson agreed to allow the first year of their married life to be filmed for a reality TV show on MTV, I thought what a brilliant career move on both their parts, though I couldn't imagine why anyone famous would want their already media-focused lives to be further open for public consumption. Its a move that paid off...as there aren't many options available for a former member of a boy band once he's married off and the band is disbanded. As far as boy bands go, I thought 98 Degrees was the best of the bunch, but with Justin Timberlake of NSYNC stealing most of the limelight, there just isn't a whole lot of use for boy band alumni.

You had to know a show like this was waiting to happen. Nick and Jessica are the human equivalent of Ken and Barbie, and even their mansion resembles everything perfect and plastic about that perfect model of couplehood that Mattel peddles to the masses since the 1950s. Nick and Jessica are a likeable young couple and one can't help but watch at episodes in their lives that make interesting viewing. I didn't expect it to be so funny, with most of the humor coming from Jessica's bimbo moments, saying things you just can't believe a person that successful wouldn't know about (such as the much talked about "chicken or tuna", "I don't eat buffalo", and her not knowing about bears prowling for food at night or what rigor mortis is). It must be frustrating for Nick to deal with some of her "dumb blonde moments", but as she said in a game they played during a campfire: who needs intelligence when they have a body like hers?

Because this show is much funnier than I expected and I happen to like Nick and Jessica as a couple and enjoy seeing them live as normal a life as they can (despite the limos, mansion, luxury cars, exotic vacations, and invitations to exclusive parties), I find this show to be one of the better reality television shows out there. The camping episode was the best one, as you don't expect a glamourous and famous couple like theirs to "rough it" in the wilderness or go shopping on a whim at Home Depot.

I also enjoyed the episode with the bees and Jessica's birthday party. By the end of ten episodes, I found myself charmed by Jessica Simpson, for despite her ditziness, she is simply sweet, charming and seductive. I fully understand why Nick is so taken with her, and that moment for me came when she chides her husband for eating a piece of the honeycomb and laughs at him when he starts spitting. The special features were really nice, with intercut interviews of them both about the key moments in their relationship. They each also contributed a video for this dvd set, and Jessica's ("Sweetest Sin")is far superior to her husband's ("Shut Up"). She sings it in a very sultry, seductive style that's hard to beat, and the video almost borders on racy sensuality between the two of them that should be kept private.

In the end, you have to know that while they might not be as superstar a couple like Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears were at one point, they do have a little bit more realism in their lives and a great sense of career moves to allow such an intrusive look into the most difficult year of anyone's marriage. It might be an indication of narcissism on their part, but I don't think so. At any rate, I do hope theirs is a marriage that will last the test of time, but that remains to be seen. Until then, we all get to be voyeurs in their marital squabbles, for whatever that's worth.

Rating:
Summary: Good.. except the music coverups
Review: I love this show. I am very glad it is on DVD, but once again the music coverups are so distracting. As I am currently in the middle of watching the episode with the various video shoots, I actually stopped the DVD and came online to try and figure out if anyone else was bothered by it. They chose absolutely terrible songs to play as well. Ugh. That is disappointing, but the rest of the DVD is nice, including the extra features.

Rating:
Summary: The soundtrack is corny!!
Review: If it weren't for the soundtrack, I would give it 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining
Review: Many of these reviews are based on personal feelings or dislikes for Nick and Jessica, which is just stupid. No one wants to know why a particular person doesn't like Jessica Simpson, they just want to know if her show entertaining or not. And the show is definitely entertaining. People also really exaggerate Jessica's "not too bright" moments. That's all people talk about. Truth is, we all have our moments. Really, don't analyze Nick and Jessica themselves so much, just enjoy the humor.

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Nick and Jessica's life show us something real...the life of a real couple, the life of a real girl, the life of a real guy, and the life of real celebrities. I think its great that they were so open to sharing the difficulties and the joys of a first year of marriage. And, Peter, I can think of several incorrect things in your post. First of all, Jessica is a natural blonde. Her hair is lighter now than it was when she was younger, but it is naturally blonde. And second, in your watching of ONE episode, I find it hard to believe that you became such an expert on the show, especially to say that "Nick just looks fed up with her most of the time." I didn't realize that assumption could be rightly made after just one episode. I love this show because it shows everything, good and bad, about a real couple, and I give it 5 stars for the authenticity of it alone.

Rating:
Summary: we are not obsessed
Review: people who think we need a shrink. please that is so sad. it is very clear that u need a shrink. i know i'm not obsessed. it is funny. there is stuff called humor. and they are funny. jessica isn't that dumb. she just knows what sells. and i think it was one of the best career moves she has ever made. i can't wait till the the next seaseon of jessica or ashlee's shows.

Rating:
Summary: Not so innocent fun...
Review: Reality TV is the source of endless frustration in our culture -- some people seem to take its existence as a personal slap in the face. I must confess I am more mystified by the reaction to reality TV than I am by its existence. Although there are certainly tacky new lows each year, I think "Newlyweds" is fun. Burned down to it essense, this DVD package is really just a 2 hour home video featuring Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. Like all home videos, the participants are self-consciously aware that they are being videotaped, so they act out. There is never a complete fly-on-the-wall moment, because the cameras are always there.

For those who claim that reality TV is pointless, I offer this: "Newlyweds" offers a glimpse at a side of Middle America I seldom see. Witness the strange fixation the men in Jessica Simpson's life have with her virginity. Her minister (at her wedding!), her husband, and her father all comment on the fact that Jessica was a virgin when she got married. In a truly bizarre moment, Papa Simpson stands on a beach while Jessica rolls around in bed with Nick, acting out the lyrics to her song "Sweetest Sin." Recalling Jessica's pre-marital virginity, Papa Simpson intones, "We are celebrating (with this song) that Jessica can do it til she's blue in the face, and she can sing about it too." Yikes! I'd like to get Gloria Steinem and Madonna to do a commentary track deconstructing just what is going on in these men's lives that they are so possessive of Jessica's chastity. I'm guessing it's about more than what one person does behind closed doors. And why does Papa Simpson have no problem watching his married daughter rolling around under the sheets with her husband, on film? I'm guessing -- call me a cynic-- that the Simpsons' true God is money and opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: Zero Stars
Review: Sorry Jessica Simpleton fans, but I will have to agree with Peter on this one. And what are you people talking about "real"? This is not a real couple! Sure, maybe they're real in the eyes of other tinseltown tots, but NOT to 99% of the population. It is another Ken-and-Barbie duo from Hollyweird out to milk their 15 minutes of fame for all it's worth! The sad thing is, we all buy into it because deep down, the great majority of us want fame and wealth. I'll even admit, sure the fame would be nice and I envy the wealthy on bad days just like anyone else. What can I say (I'm human), but I'd like to earn that wealth with some REAL talent and integrity. Let's look at Alicia Keys for a second, another artist in the music biz. You don't see her personal life on some stage and flaunted on the front cover of Us Weekly! I don't know about you guys, but as a result, I respect and admire her more as an artist and a person. In a nutshell, I feel the same way about media whores as I do about...well, WHORES *lol* Acting is one thing, but Nick and Jessica's show is the equivalent of flashing one's chest at Mardi Gras. That said, can you just imagine the young, impressionable minds watching this show and discovering that playing dumb is the way to fame!? Heaven help the coming generation...

Rating:
Summary: Someone please get this disease of a show off the air!
Review: The fact that this show is even watched by the public is evidence for what many are calling "the dumbing down of America". Are we so devoid of entertainment on television that we'll waste 30 minutes watching two married pop singers go about their day-to-day goings on? First of all let's analyze things here a bit, shall we? Are Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey so egotistical and self-absorbed that they think everyone would be interested in their rich and spoiled lives? This is a very frustrating and infuriating show to watch. Jessica Simpson is the epitome of the dumb blonde (she's naturally a brunette, by the way). She cannot function normally like the rest of us folks who don't make millions of dollars per year. She is a rich and whiny spoiled brat who is nauseating to watch. It's like watching a ten-year-old child in an adult's body. All she seems to be good at is spending money on stupid things and saying unintelligent things and speaking in a whiny, annoying voice. One episode of this crap was more than enough. Nick just looks fed up with her most of the time. I cannot wait until this couple is separated and divorced. Then will we get to watch Nick And Jessica's divorce court trial on dvd?? The only reasons this show came about were because MTV deemed it necessary, and because the recording careers of both Nick and Jessica needed a boost. I really feel sorry for those who rated this as five stars. I'll be glad when the whole reality show fad is dead and gone.

Rating:
Summary: Watch it on mTV once
Review: Why would you buy Newlyweds on dvd? If you're so obsessed with Jessica Simpson or Nick as to get a dvd of them "doing stuff", you should go see a shrink. Get a life people.