The challenge: MTV's "Catfish: The TV Show," now in its fourth season, with new episodes beginning to air Wednesday at 10 p.m.

What's it about: Lonesome people behaving stupidly, and stupid people behaving loathesomely. Maybe I have that backward. Schulman, a photographer from New York City, was the somewhat reluctant star of the 2010 breakout documentary "Catfish," in which he fears the woman he'd fallen in love with online but had never met was not all that she seemed -- including but not limited to being young, hot and thin. When he and the filmmakers track her down, the woman turns out to be a fascinating figure, a troubled but talented artist whose deep humanity somehow made Nev, her "victim," and his filmmaking comrades, seem all the more callow.

The TV series is far more banal, and the conceit stretched tissue-thin. Nev is now the host, "helping" oblivious online Romeos (and Juliets) meet their mystery loves. It's hard enough to believe the circumstances of the film; in the first episode of the series, Sunny reveals that her online boyfriend Jamison is a male model who moonlights as a cue card writer for "Chelsea Lately" and is studying to be an anesthesiologist. Online.

RELATED: MTV's 'Scream': Meta classic or mega rip-off?

The pretenders are all unmasked with a few pointed keystrokes, and are almost uniformly unrepentant and unpleasant when confronted, but soon crumble under Nev and his co-host Max Joseph's faux-therapist prodding and reveal themselves to have crushingly low self- esteem. It feels extremely exploitative but what is actually hardest to take is Nev's patronizing "it gets better" patter.

Dread factor: Medium. I liked the film, but the twist of the discovery was big part. That's gone with the TV show in the larger sense, replaced by the standard reality show can't-look-away trainwreck.

Redeeming value: Nev spoon feeds us the moral: People who are troubled and lonely and yearn for connection will go to drastic lengths for it ... including revealing themselves as troubled and lonely to the entire world. But the participants, for the most part, may walk away with a greater sense of empathy, and the viewers may too. Or they may just like watching trainwrecks.

Likelihood of watching again: Miniscule.

Make Me Watch is a video series in which TV critic Vicki Hyman tries to maintain an open mind while sitting through guilty pleasure shows suggested by viewers -- TV shows that would not normally appear in her rotation otherwise. If you've got a suggestion, let her know via Twitter (@VickiHy), email (vhyman@njadvancemedia.com) or right here in the comments.

Vicki Hyman may be reached at vhyman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @vickihy. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.