"Blistering," "haunting" and even "controversial" are some descriptions I've read about After Ashley. Oh, please. Gina Gionfriddo's mediocre play is a satire on the media. What blisters or haunts about that? What's controversial? Everybody hates the media—it's the safest stance you can take.

Were you unaware that America's reality shows bring out the worst in people? That misery-TV creates "stars" who are willing, even eager, to parade their pain and vulnerability before a hungry public? If this is new to you, take heed. Ashley Hammond, a flaky but likeable young mother, is raped and murdered by her gardener (actually a homeless schizophrenic who was hired by Alden, Ashley's estranged, do-gooder husband, in a misguided effort to help). Ashley and Alden's 14-year-old son Justin, who is used to parenting his mother (she's a chronic pothead who wishes she had a better sex life), must now cope with this loss. What's to become of Alden and Justin?

They hit the jackpot, that's what. Alden writes a best-selling memoir about life After Ashley, and hosts his own true-crime show. Justin's heartrending call to 911 is featured in People, and the kid also becomes a celebrity—as well as an object of desire for teenage girls looking to hook up with Mr. Sensitive.

Of course, life isn't perfect. Alden's memoir is full of phony sentiment about his almost-ex-wife, and Justin can't stop reminding him that it's fiction. For his part, Justin is caught between the glamour of his new situation, and its inherent dishonesty. Alden and Justin try to reach a standoff, but the double-edged threat of exposure is never far away.

After Ashley has some good jokes (Sunday's matinee audience laughed a lot), but Gionfriddo's script packs the artificial, nuance-free punchiness of TV writing. And a good TV writer would have ended this thing 20 minutes earlier, before Ashley is awash in bathos and just plain silliness.

The play's best potential is in its first scene—Before After Ashley, you might say, while the mother is still alive, and we see her quirkily inappropriate relationship with Justin. But even here, in the most original (and potentially riskiest) plotline, Gionfriddo is careful to work with a net, assuring us that Justin is really a deeply decent boy, and dispatching Ashley to a tragic end long before things might get oedipal. Gionfriddo may imagine this to be high-octane stuff, but After Ashley is strictly unleaded.

Director Pam MacKinnon gives the play a slick production that occasionally goes over the top in pursuit of satirical tone (trust me, we don't need a reminder). There's an able cast with especially good work from Tony Braithwaite as a sleazy reality-show producer. PTC commissioned After Ashley, and it's always laudable for a company to support new work. By all means, let's have more! But next time, how about a satire that admires the media? Now that would be daring.

AFTER ASHLEY Through March 5, Philadelphia Theatre Company at Plays & Players Theater,1714 Delancey St., 215-985-0420, www.phillytheatreco.com