In the past, if television viewers wanted to catch a glimpse of the worst possible thing humanity can do to itself, a History Channel special on World War II would have been appropriate.

But now we’ve adopted more sophisticated methods of screening exactly how appalling the human race can be. The latest manifestation of this trend is the E! show “Bridalplasty,” which premiered last December.

The premise is basically “Extreme Makeover” meets “The Apprentice.” Twelve brides-to-be compete in weekly challenges; the catch is that the winners receive a cosmetic surgical procedure of their choice. In the first episode, we meet the 12 contestants who are all engaged and desire to look perfect for their wedding day. They are all subjected to a full body mirror and were scrutinized by surgeons who indicated all of their flaws, and recommended a list of procedures. After a series of challenges, the winner will receive all of the surgeries on her list and be revealed to her husband on their wedding day.

The first challenge was a rather simple puzzle of refrigerator magnets that had to be assembled, and the last two brides to finish would be sent home (on a side note, all the contestants were terrible at the puzzle). The ten “winners” were given syringes and frisk off to an “Injectables Party” where they were pumped full of Botox. At this point, I must tell any readers who have not heard of this show, I am not kidding.

You might be thinking that anyone willing to be on this show would be your typical narcissistic attention monger (that I’m sorry to say have become so common place). You would be wrong. The women on this show achieve a level of selfishness that has yet to be named by human science. First we have Alexandra, a former contestant on “The Biggest Loser” who once threatened to cut another contestant with at knife. Another star, Janessa, decided to pawn her fiancé’s engagement ring without telling him. While plastic surgery is not without its critics, I will say that the greater sin this show has committed is revealing that people like this even exist. These women give shows about brides competing for surgery a bad name.

Now, all the typical criticisms of reality shows have been done before. The idea of pointing cameras a people who simply want attention; the concept that we a culture idolize beauty and artificially alter ourselves to obtain a hollow existence; the fear that we are becoming more shallow people because of these kinds of shows; these have all been discussed in great detail.

What is truly terrifying is the fact that only the most ludicrous of ideas, whether they’re TV shows or marketing gimmicks, get any attention in the current media. “Bridalplasty” is the television equivalent of the KFC Double Down sandwich, in that both are attempting to draw in business by being the most ridiculous thing imaginable. The news will only cover and draw attention to the products or shows that are pushing the limits, whether it’s a sandwich using chicken meat for a bun or a show about the worst people in society pushing the limits of human decency.