“First Class All the Way” Review: Will It Get Off the Ground?

There are several key ingredients to a successful non-competition reality show…

First, you have to have interesting “characters.” Second, you have to have some sort of good conflict. Third, the show has to find a way to make you care about the first two.

Sadly, “First Class All the Way” has none of those…

“Class” follows Sara Ryan-Duffy and her travel concierge business, SRD. SRD plans elaborate vacations for clients and then Sara or one of her other concierges travels with the clients to make sure all goes well.

And when I say elaborate, I mean ELABORATE. Like wine? Sara will arrange a private look at one of the best wine collections in Paris. Going to Monaco? Sara will arrange a meeting with the prince, who Sara just happens to be friends with.

The premiere gave us a lot of cool stuff to see, but if I want to see beautiful scenery and exclusive tourist spots, I’ll watch the Travel Channel. Reality shows are about personality, and unfortunately, Sara really doesn’t have one. Even her voiceovers come off completely stiff. And what personality she does show comes off as completely snobby.

It’s not until a conflict does arise in the premiere that Sara drops her snobby facade and shows a real human being. We’re going to have to see more of that if this show is going to work.

But perhaps the real problem with this show is that with everything going on in the real world, maybe we don’t want to watch filthy rich people spending their money on extravagant luxuries. Especially when these filthy rich people have less personality than Sara.

If we’re going to have interesting characters, real conflict and a reason to care, I think we’ll have to get those from Sara’s staff, who we barely see in the premiere. That’s exactly what the previews promise us, but I’ve been down that road before…

“Class” is a good concept. I’m just not sure it’s going to get off the ground…

“First Class All the Way” premieres Monday, November 3rd at 9 p.m. on Bravo…

Photo Credit: Isabella Vosmikova/Bravo