Natasha Leggero rules MTV's The 70s House

I'm still recovering from the horrifying premiere of MTV's Real World Austin a few weeks ago, which was one of the most reprehensively depraved things I've ever seen. (I will speak no more of it, except to say that everyone associated with it should be profoundly ashamed.) But this week I was pleasantly surprised by the premiere of MTV's The 70s House, which was actually - dare I say it? - delightful, in large part due to the gleefully insane host Dawn, played by comic Natasha Leggero (who I've been somewhat smitten with since she killed on The Late Late Show a few months ago).

Basically, a dozen hapless examples of MTV's target demographic are conned into thinking they've landed a spot on Road Rules XXIII or something, but are instead imprisoned in a Brady Bunch-esque suburban time warp to 1976(ish), where they must discard all trappings of modernity - cell phones, iPods, the internet, their clothes, their slang, you name it - in exchange for the deliriously-designed decade before the one they were born in. Now, as someone who personally considers Dazed and Confused a horror film, this is just far too rich for words.

Granted, the show is only modestly inventive, built around a shamelessly derivative off-the-shelf reality show format, but it's breezy fun to see these dim-witted MTV drones teasingly tortured by the subversively inspired Leggero, who seems to be channeling a kinder, gentler, and nuttier version of Parker Posey's character from Dazed. MTV is repeating the hell out of the first episode over the next several days, so check your listings and tune in. (The second episode premieres Tuesday night.)