Unfortunately, "Paradise Hotel" aside, Fox isn't all that sophisticated or skilled about its reality-TV programming. While MTV manages to showcase the quirks of its rich girls, for better or worse, Fox feels it has to layer on the fictional hillbilly element extra thick. In the highlights, the girls are shoveling road kill and manhandling cows, when, based on what we've seen of them so far, it would probably be a lot more fun to watch them goof around and chat with cute local boys. After all, how many times can the girl in the fancy shoes squeal, "That's disgusting!" before it gets dull? Apparently locals in town concur, complaining less about the two women than the tactics of crew members, who seemed hellbent on shooting the ugliest parts of the town and allegedly set up a fake grape-stomping booth for the girls to take part in at a local fair. Why go to such great lengths to support your preconceived image of what the show is about, when so many entertaining moments will fall outside the boundaries of that image regardless?

The way MTV and Fox are parading around the rich folks for us to point and jeer and gawk at, it's utterly disarming to encounter Jamie Johnson's "Born Rich," an American Undercover documentary on HBO (premiering 10 p.m. on Monday). A 23-year-old heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, first-time filmmaker Johnson explores the complicated comforts and challenges of growing up with more money than you could possibly know what to do with. Somehow Johnson managed to persuade heirs of the Trump, Vanderbilt, Newhouse and Bloomberg fortunes, among others, to speak candidly on camera about everything from prenuptials to private planes. Unlike the frivolous, out-of-touch lightweights on "Rich Girls" and "The Simple Life," Johnson's subjects are self-aware, sensitive and intelligent, and seem to share an earnest desire to do something meaningful with their lives.

Hesitant as most of us are to feel sympathy for the filthy rich, anyone who's been unemployed for longer than expected, lived at home a little too long, or saved up money for a creative break only to spend the money without making any creative gains knows how difficult it can be to achieve goals that aren't motivated partially by a paycheck and an authority figure breathing down your neck. The truth is, unstructured time and unlimited money can often lead to depression, not to mention the strange plane on which those who can buy gallery space, pay for studio time, and produce TV shows find themselves. Am I accomplishing anything, or am I paying to appear as though I'm accomplishing something? While those who struggle to pay the bills may have a difficult time grasping the pitfalls of wealth, they are clearly reflected in these stories. Whitney-Vanderbilt heir Josiah Hornblower admits that he went through a period of depression in college and ended up taking two years off from school to work, a period he refers to as one of the happiest and most important times of his life. One of the jobs he had was working for an oil field services company, where he interacted with regular guys without high school degrees. Hornblower reports that "really what I learned is that working hard makes me feel good."

While Hornblower seems exceptionally well-adjusted and insightful about his position, Johnson himself sometimes appears utterly adrift on a sea of possibilities. His father seems like a nice guy, but seems to offer little in the way of active involvement in helping his son find his calling.

Many of the other kids seem slightly alienated from their families. When asked if her family approves of her life as an equestrian show-jumper, Georgina Bloomberg replies, "I'm doing what I love to do. It doesn't really matter to me what the hell they think." While obviously someone is keeping the groundsmen in rubber boots and keeping "My Pretty Pony" knee-deep in fresh oats, Bloomberg's independence may be more of a side effect of her young age than a sign that her relationship with her parents is suffering.

In contrast, S.I. Newhouse IV, heir to the Condé Nast fortune, is fairly outspoken about his alienation from his father. "A lot of people who know me know what my financial situation is. I do have a place in the city, my father's place," S.I. Newhouse IV explains from his dorm room at Haverford, "but it's not fun to go there. I feel like a guest in my own home."

And alienation from your parents has a disturbing edge among young heirs, since many of them have a strong fear of being cut off. Selfish as that might sound to an outsider, it's natural to fear being thrust into an entirely different world from the one you were raised in. For these kids, their inheritance not only messes with their sense of control over their lives but also clutters up the emotional landscape of their relationship with their parents. Still, when Luke Weil shudders to imagine a life without obscene amounts of money, it almost makes you feel sorry for him that he'll never experience the joy and freedom of having nothing to lose.

Enjoyable as it might be to scoff at these poor little rich kids, most of them are far too earnest and sharp not to like. Surprisingly, Ivanka Trump is particularly honest and low-key. At one point, she recalls the time a stranger approached her and said, "What does it feel like to be wealthy? What does it feel like to never have felt any pain?" Instead of feeling angry, she was astounded that anyone could be so foolish. And instead of feeling envious of these rich kids, mostly we feel sorry for those, rich and poor, who believe that money has the power to shield them from the difficult task of living.

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