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The Two Coreys

 (Series -- A&E, Sun. July 29, 10 p.m.)

By BRIAN LOWRY

In one episode, Corey Haim takes out an ad in Variety to apologize.

Produced by RDF USA. Executive producers, Greg Goldman, Beth Greenwald, Jonathan Singer, Andrew Hoegl, Corey Feldman, Corey Haim.
 

Hey A&E, anybody remember "Sons of Hollywood" over there? Apparently not, if this pseudo-reality show is any indication. So heavily staged it comes outfitted not only with a musical "The Odd Couple" cue but also a press release that compares it with "You, Me & Dupree," this latest look at has-been Hollywood fails to strike a single convincing note in reuniting onetime teen heart-throbs Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. In fact, the only emotion engendered would be sympathy for the central duo were they not producers of this exercise in what VH1 would call surreality.

Produced by RDF USA, the program represents yet another oddity from the everybody-famous-gets-a-reality-show school of development. In the only half-hour made available for preview, the action hinges on a 20th-anniversary release of "Lost Boys," a movie in which the two Coreys co-starred, with Haim foolishly banking on a much-belated sequel to jump-start his moribund career.

Ah, but Feldman doesn't appear to be taking the project seriously, blowing off a radio interview that his pal winds up attending solo. Adding to the faux friction, Feldman is married to the shapely Susie, who reveals her assets by posing for a Stuff magazine layout. Haim, meanwhile, is single but has moved in with them, seemingly for no other purpose than to create an awkward dynamic for the show to exploit.

Jaw-dropping in its sense of fabrication, the series is all about the familiar scenario of child stars who lived the good life and must grapple with the consequences now that life in the fast lane has ground to a halt. Yet beyond a mild sense of nostalgia, the premise doesn't really work as an instance of seeing the mighty fall (Feldman might have hung out with Michael Jackson, but he and his namesake hardly achieved that level of fame) or even sheer voyeurism, mostly because the situations feel so hopelessly contrived.

A&E will run back-to-back episodes, perhaps suggesting that the network knows what it has (or doesn't) here and, as with "Sons of Hollywood," wants to exhaust its supply as soon as possible, which is probably wise. Because while Haim and Feldman may not be boys any longer, both they and anyone else responsible for "The Two Coreys" appear more than a little bit lost.

Running time: 30 MIN.