Ian V. Rowe, vice president for strategic partnerships and public affairs at MTV, said viewers can make a similar leap. “We see ‘Exiled!’ as a teachable moment,” he said, adding that a straight documentary would not bring in as many viewers. (In the second quarter of 2008, according to Nielsen figures provided by MTV, “My Super Sweet 16” reached 24 million viewers between the ages of 12 and 34.)

Noting that the Americans are paired with someone their own age in the host society, he said, “Usually when young people are exposed to issues, especially through the eyes of their peers, they sense injustice and they want to know what they can do to fix it.” Each episode will have a Web page highlighting specific issues of the host culture and ways viewers can become involved.

Ohhh that's so nice. And how did Felicity von Whitemercedesbritches deal with the whole sitch?

Ms. Tillander was game even without knowing the details. “I was like, ‘O.K., I’m down, I’ll do anything,’ ” she said. “I thought it was going to be something cool to go to, that they were not going to send me some place bad.” (Her father said that she was expecting Maui or Rome or “as a worst case, China.”) Her stunned reaction when told she would leave the next day for Kenya was not faked, she said.

Nor was her profound unhappiness when she had to walk several hours for water and help make a hut from a messy paste of cow dung. (She refused to touch it.) But eventually she made the best of the trip, sharing dance moves with her hosts and discussing the role of Masai women. She called the experience “a blast,” but also “kind of like a wake-up call.”

Hm. You know what's actually not a blast? Presenting cultural experience and charity work as punishment. Why not just come right out and call the show Haha, Sucker. Welcome to Awfulsburg, Population You and Like A Thousand Starving Africans. Who Doesn't Want to Clean Their Palatial Bedroom Now? Oh Just Kidding, Mommy Loves You. Here's Money. [NYT]

Well one could say that it has to do with our troubling times; the products of a population that has begun to huddle together while economic downturns, wars, and impending environmental doom swat at us. I'm sure some historian fifty or a hundred years from now will come up with a clear and concise political and social analysis of why reality TV suddenly started giving back. But really, in the here and now, I think it just has to do with simple programming. Those "look how rich we are!" shows, like My Super Sweet 16, certainly had (and arguably are still having) their day. But trends change and evolve, and I think this is just the next phase. From laughing at people being bad to laughing at people doing good. Sure the Real Housewives are still smearing their largess all over our television screens, and the girls from The Hills try to pass off sitting around and blinking as work, but I think they too will dwindle. Perhaps we'll soon see Countess LuAnn muddling through an African landfill, trying to do her part. Or Heidi Montag building habitats for humanity. It will still be self-involved and self-serving, sure, but the audience will get to breathe deep and pretend that truly good things are happening in a truly awful world.