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Arts & Entertainment

Warning: 'The Vineyard' Will Rot Your Brain

"After less than one episode, I could already feel my intelligence withering away," writes a University of Virginia undergraduate in the college newspaper. Is "The Vineyard" really that bad? If you've watched it: Tell us in the comments.

"The Vineyard," which is closing in on its season finale on ABC Family, is described by its creators as a "coming-of-age docu-soap."

Descriptions by reviewers and other critics have been distinctly harsher.

Los Angeles comedian Charlie Nadler, 29, recently called the series "a coming-of-age game show about young people who win a summer on the Vineyard and discover they can't act."

And in the Cavalier Daily, the award-winning student newspaper at the University of Virginia, UVA undergraduate Robin Yeh argued this week that "The Vineyard" proves television really can rot your brain.

"After less than one episode, I could already feel my intelligence withering away," Yeh wrote in "Maddening 'Vineyard' withers on the vine."

"Though it may seem like an advertisement for Martha’s Vineyard and The Black Dog at first, it actually gives the island a bad name," Yeh continued, citing the show's "cheesy lines, selfish characters and melodramatic 'reality.'" Read her complete review in the Cavalier Daily.

Two episodes remain in the season, which was filmed on the Vineyard in May and June. The show's producers have said they hope it will be renewed for a second season.

Many local businesses, beaches and other landmarks appear in passing on "The Vineyard", while others — most frequently the Black Dog campus on Vineyard Haven Harbor — are featured more prominently as locations for the action.

Episode 5, released Tuesday, culminated in a party scene at theMansion House in Vineyard Haven, with Ben Taylor performing, while other key scenes took place at TisberryMocha Mott's and Vineyard Vines.

The Vineyard Prep clothing line has also been getting plenty of exposure on the show, with multiple male characters sporting logo T-shirts over their muscular torsos.

Have you been watching "The Vineyard?" What's your assessment? Should it be renewed for another season? Tell us in the comments.

For more about the show, please see:

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