Rich and Reckless (truTV)

Through interviews and dramatic reenactments, RICH AND RECKLESS tells the real-life tales of wealthy businesspeople, Hollywood players, and heirs and heiresses who encounter danger in the hands of ruthless criminals. Their stories -- from crime to courtroom -- are told and shown in graphic detail, with plenty of violence, drugs, alcohol, and sexual content. The thread that ties the show together is money. The victims in the show have it, and the criminals want it. So, for example, the story of a rich Miami businessman kidnapped and tortured by a group of greedy muscle-heads focused on how much cash the criminals extracted from the victim and how they did it (the grim details include a gun to the head, forced drug consumption, setting fire to a car, and more).

Following the standard true-crime reality show format -- which relies heavily on dramatizations -- Rich and Reckless does little to improve on the genre. The gruesome stories are outlined by interviews with people close to the crime or the victims. While the family, media, and legal commentators speak with appropriate gravity, host Mark Ebner -- in a cross between America's Most Wanted's John Walsh and Tom Arnold -- pokes fun at the criminals, makes exaggerated faces, and speaks in corny metaphors that seem out of sync with the show's violence.

TV Rating: TV-14
Network: truTV
Cast: Mark Ebner
Genre: Reality TV
Where to watch: truTV