What happens when you take 52 beauty queens and put them in a house for several weeks with some experts and Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie? If you ever wanted to know the answer to that question, TLC is giving you the opportunity. In an effort to update the Miss America Pageant, which has, in our own opinion, become outdated and a bit irrelevant, the network, which will air the pageant on January 26th, has decided to inject some reality into the Miss America contestants. They want the ladies to be modern representations of America.

Although we’re pretty skeptical that the series will accomplish all of that, we decided to sit down and watch anyway.

We were pretty surprised by the way the judging panel and experts really laid into the contestants. As soon as the girls got there – in their full evening gown glory – Stacey and Clinton from TLC’s “What Not to Wear” picked apart each of the ladies’ luggage. Me-ouch! Some of these girls really need a stylist. It’s kinda scary.

Later on, the ladies were put into groups based on different Miss America factoids. There was some cattiness, but most of the girls were just trying to understand what the heck was going on.

The following AM, the ladies, who are sharing just seven showers, were told to great ready for some physical activity. Quite a few decided to take the time to do their and makeup. Eek!

The teams had a challenge which included putting together a puzzle of the US and picking out their state flags. The light blue ladies won because Miss Pennsylvania on the purple team couldn’t find her flag. The gals got the opportunity to use the showers first which was key before a dinner party. The surprise guest at that party was ‘controversy.’

Ooohhhhhh!!!!

In the end, three ladies were chosen to be on the top and three were on the bottom. Miss Ohio, Utah and Pennsylvania were tops while Oklahoma, Vermont and we can’t remember how. How terrible of us?

Overall, we think it is okay to watch “Miss America: Reality Check” if (and only if) nothing else is on TV…or you could TiVo it and catch it later on if you feel like it.