Repurposing the heartbreak of the end of a relationship as low-budget entertainment

This one makes me sad. Here is my sad face:

So, there was this couple on this (need I say it? "reality") show, "The Real Housewives of Orange County," and apparently they didn't get along so well. In fact, they didn't get along so well so well that Bravo is bringing them back to not get along some more!

"Date My Ex: Jo & Slade" is a "reality competition" series featuring Slade Smiley trying to find some dud(e) who'll put up with Jo De La Rosa. It'll debut next month, and in the meantime, Bravo has announced a fundraiser before the show premieres in which "men and women can 'recycle' their ex by auctioning them off for a date with someone new." Yes, now that the relationship is over, the final indignity: Treating one's ex as chattel.

Given how depressing the forced jollity of this whole enterprise sounds, no wonder the press release trumpets, as the principal selling point aside from the auction itself, "a VIP open bar for the crowd of 350 ex-boyfriends and girlfriends, ex-wives and husbands, ex-lovers and partners."

In a way, this kind of sounds like wife-swapping without actual spouses, people bartering their exes like kids would baseball cards. It'd be something to behold, if only to see if some long-buried bitter recriminations will surface.

Speaking of which, join us tomorrow as we take a look at the new episode of "Swingtown," featuring that potent combination of pot brownies and Twister!