At long last, the night I’d been waiting for arrived: Bravo’s new guilty pleasure, NYC Prep, debuted last night. Was it as horrifying as the hype suggested? In my opinion, not really.

Here’s my take on it. The characters are undoubtedly privileged brats who think they’re 30. But are they bad people? No. And here’s something else they’re not: stupid. No, these kids—for all their social-climbing, primping and excessive spending—speak quite eloquently. They score high on the SATs. They contribute to charities (albeit for selfish reasons, but so do many people). Yes, they drink and have sex. But guess what? So do kids who live in the suburbs. And come to think of it, I believe two of the girls (Kelli and Camille) told their cocky peer—a senior named PC—that they didn’t do drugs OR drink. They even said they still get grounded; even I, who attended high school in the suburbs, was never grounded!

Based on the premiere, I happen to think that the schools these teens attend have overreacted by issuing letters condemning the show. It’s not something to be proud of, but it’s also not cause to ostracize the students who chose to participate. Then again, I’ve only seen one episode…

What’d you think?