“My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé,” which debuted last night, lives up to expectations of being crass and embarrassing to watch, which is precisely the sort of reaction Fox seems to be aiming for.
  And given the recent weak ratings for the network on Monday nights, something distasteful might be just what Fox needs to get viewers to tune in.
   “Fiance” is the latest product from reality guru Mike Darnell, the man behind Fox’s recent hits “Joe Millionaire” and “The Simple Life.” 
   Fox’s promotion of “Fiance” seems to suggest nothing more than another attempt at shock television in a desperate bid for ratings. But behind the double con that is the premise of the show, “Fiance” pulls off the best con of all, lampooning the very idea of reality television. 
   While it's something most viewers are likely to miss altogether, it is the show's clever manipulation of irony that makes “Fiance” palatable and even enjoyable.
  On the surface, the show is about an attractive girl, Randi (yes, spelled with an “i”), who agrees to convince her friends and family that she is engaged to the undesirable Steve in order to win $500,000.
   Randi assumes that Steve is also a reality show contestant, which is the first goof. In fact, he's a paid actor whose job it is to try to sabotage her efforts by being as unbearable and unattractive as possible.
   The premiere episode certainly has no shortage of awkward and entertaining moments, including a staged “accident” in which Steve shatters a vase, a stressful afternoon visit to a day spa for a massage, and Steve’s insistence that Randi should see him naked to convince her family that they are, in fact, in love – complete with an impromptu naked dance.
  But the greatest entertainment value on the show is not found in the clash of personalities between Steve and Randi, nor is it even in Steve’s outstanding performance as a love-struck but socially inept oaf.
   Rather, it is how Fox achieves the ultimate goof on the glut of reality shows about finding true love in a prefabricated and elaborate set-up that is anything but real.
   While many romance-based reality shows try to find a partner for their stars, even repeatedly casting them in shows, “Fiance” is turns that model on its end.
    “Fiance” debuts at what seem to be a ripe time to spoof match-making reality shows. We have the latest edition of “The Bachelorette” in full swing and the past year filled with “Who Wants to Marry My Dad?” and two seasons of “For Love or Money” and “Joe Millionaire.” 
  Join that with the countless syndicated dating shows, including “Blind Date,” “Extreme Dating,” “Elimidate” and “Fifth Wheel,” and America appears to be a nation of desperate singles who would rather subject themselves to the embarrassment of seeking love on national television than look for a partner themselves, or worse yet, be content to live alone.
   What makes “Fiance” so objectionable and at the same time so incredibly addictive is not that Steve is fooling Randi into thinking he’s a reality contestant but in revealing the lengths people will go for money, a fast buck. 
   Unlike “Average Joe,” in which beautiful women are tested on their ability to look beyond appearance for romance, Randi isn’t looking for love. 
  Unlike “For Love or Money,” in which the monetary reward rests on at least one person genuinely liking the other, Randi doesn’t even have to like Steve. She just has to convince her family that she does.
   And there’s the rub. 
  Randi is willing to believe that she will receive $500,000 for deceiving everyone who means the most to her. And so she battles through the tears and the mishaps with that promise of a jackpot spurring her on. Not only does she humiliate herself, but she humiliates her family and friends.
   In the promotions for the show, one of her loved ones acknowledges the shame that Randi and Steve’s pairing will bring.
   "This is so embarrassing,” she says. “I can’t believe people are going to watch this.”
   But certainly Fox hopes people watch, whether out of curiosity or for the entertainment value.
  The question is whether viewers will see beyond the obvious to appreciate the ironies that are so deftly presented.