This is a random couple from Flickr, not a couple participating in this series

Not content to just bring us troubled teen couples trying to raise babies, MTV will soon deliver up the troubled teen couples on their own in an planned upcoming series tentatively named “Married Young.” It could be worse I guess. It could be “Married Young By America” where the viewing audience votes on which immature couples spend the next four to six weeks in corporate sponsored matrimony. EW has some good suggestions too, like Desperate Houseteens and Teen Wife:

After earning a ton of viewers with its Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant reality shows, the network is developing a new series that could be seen as a natural next step.

MTV has ordered a pilot for Married Young, a one-hour docuseries following the trials and tribulations of newly wedded couples. The cameras tune in after the couple’s honeymoon and follow the couple through their first year as husband and wife.

The show will feature a range of couples and will show that grown-up responsibilities can be tough on young people, even without a kid in the picture.

If greenlit, Married Young (which is a working title… hmm, how about Teen Spouse? Teen Wife? Desperate Houseteens?) is expected to be less of a lightening rod than Teen Mom and 16 since there are no babies on board, and it has a different tone from those shows. But MTV taking on the institution of marriage is sure to spark at least some conversation.

[From EW]

MTV sort-of already did this with that Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica series which showed us just how tolerant Nick was of his ditzy bride. That marriage inevitably imploded, as have so many other relationships put until the smooshing mildly entertaining microscope of reality TV. It’s probably worth the trade off for most of these people. They get a taste of fame and end up getting plastic surgery makeovers and a couple throwaway tabloid covers, merely at the cost of their relationship, original personality, anonymity and most of their friendships. Some manage to survive mostly intact but they’re the exception not the rule. Still, it’s better that the focus won’t be on their poor kids, and I hope this report is accurate and that no children will be shown. MTV may try and think they’re presenting a cautionary tale, but just like Teen Mom they’re also giving so many young people a surefire formula for getting famous and earning some reality show cash.

Header photo credit: Abdullah AL-Naser. Photo below credit: Carlos Castillo. CC license via Flickr.