Celebreality shows have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for a while now, so it's not surprising to see MTV launch one about professional skateboarder Ryan Sheckler. Never heard of him? Me neither, but I'm sure he's well known among skate rats.

This 17-year-old professional skateboarder actually comes across as a decent kid in a somewhat sad situation. In tonight's premiere of "Life of Ryan" (10:30 p.m.) he frets about his parents divorcing, dotes on his younger brothers, expresses unhappiness with his hectic travel schedule and loses the girl he likes to a guy who's not constantly jetting off to exotic locales.

Shot in a style that's part-"Laguna Beach" (faux drama), part-documentary (less faux-feeling drama), "Life of Ryan" doesn't tell a teen story we haven't seen a million times before. Sheckler may have an unusual professional vocation, but his trials and tribulations are not that different from other kids his age.

MTV has seemed a little lost in its programming choices of late, finding its relevance disappearing in the wake of a rising Internet, online culture. "Life of Ryan" seems like an attempt to attract an even younger audience than usual. I'm not convinced it will work.