"Everybody in the world ain't black or white. Don't believe the hype. Everybody ain't a stereotype," goes Ice Cube's rap over the opening credits of 'Black.White' a new reality series making its debut on FX, March 8.

Before you know it, Bruno, a hairy white man, is getting his arms shaved. Soon, he's painted black, along with his wife Carmen and teenage daughter Rose, and Renee, who is black, and her husband, Brian, plus their teenage son Eric are all painted white. It's a time-consuming ordeal involving top of the line cosmetics.

Up next, they receive racially complementary hairstyles. Bald-headed Brian even gets a little reddish blond mustache, along with a full head of straw-colored hair, in the end looking like he might drive a pick-up truck and sing along to Elvis. Shocked the first time she sees him, Renee says, "You don't look like anybody I'd be attracted to."

It figures that someone would eventually come up with a reality show about blacks and whites trading identities. Sound hokey? Not so fast. In spite of distracting hyped-up editing, borrowed from shows like 'C.S.I. Miami' and 'The Shield' and occasional pompous pronouncements, such as "we did something no one else has ever done" and "the experience was utterly transformative," the series is engaging and might even enlighten viewers, though in early episodes, it seems as if whites will learn plenty more than blacks, who mostly will probably chuckle or wince in recognition of whites' unintentional faux pas.

Renee lets Carmen know why, "You don't have to tell us how to get along in the white world. We have to deal with you all the time." While Carmen comes from a liberal family, which supported the Civil Rights Movement, she can't count any blacks among her friends. Brian adds, "We interact with you daily. Black culture has to conform to white society to get along. As long as we do what you do, we're okay."

Here's the set up: Two supposedly typical families from southern California, the black Sparks, and the white Wurgels, agree to live like the other's race for six weeks while residing in the same house. They will shop, go to bars, attend church, take part in focus groups, play sports, and generally do the everyday things people do. They'll then share their experiences. Cameras will catch them on and off guard, fighting, sad, angry and funny. Revealingly, they'll hear what members of the other race say behind their backs.

The series producers, which include Ice Cube, chose the families well. Each character comes across as a distinct personality, with the ability to express his or her opinions very clearly. Like them or not, they at least seem real. So far the heavy in the series, Bruno, self-made son of immigrants, thinks that all anyone needs to do to win acceptance is have a good attitude. "My theory is you get out of life what you put into it," he says. "I come from a place of not expecting to be affected by racism." He believes blacks largely imagine racism.

In one test of his theory, he and Brian, who is undisguised for this adventure, shop together. Almost immediately a salesman approaches them, asking to help. Bruno chats him up and then they leave, Bruno convinced he was treated as well as any white man, and Brian convinced the salesman came over to size them up. Brian hopes Bruno will understand the subtleties of racism; so far, he appears clueless. At one point, he announces to the group that he'll know exactly what to do if anyone calls him the n word, which is to simply ignore it. Shocked at how casually he uses the toxic moniker, both Brian and Renee jump on his case, explaining that's not the way racism usually happens.

Bruno's daughter Rose, on the other hand, begins to get it right away. She attends an all black poetry group, ready with a poem. But as she sits there, listening to the others heartfelt works, she becomes increasingly aware of how out of place she is. Still, she stands up and reads her work, an honest effort overloaded with big words. "Why," they ask her, "don't you speak more plainly, so people will know what you're talking about?" Ashamed, she begins to understand the difference between having something to say and wanting to have something to say.

There are light moments as well. Brian goes to a golf range, and finds himself completely accepted by the other white golfers, knowing it would be impossible if he were himself. It's less funny when he takes a job as a bartender in an all white community. When he asks a customer to describe the area, the guy outlines how great it is to be in one of the last white bastions in the country.

There are some deeper revelations too: Brian describes how blacks usually will be less inquisitive about trouble, more concerned with getting away from it, and finding out the details later. He offers as an example, "You know if there's a tornado, there'll be some white guy in a car or truck following it. We wouldn't do that." Rose cracks up. Carmen, taken aback, blurts out, "Blacks look down on whites. It's like you have a secret society."

Interestingly, the teenagers often appear wiser than their parents. Says Eric, "Dad keeps talking about my generation as if there was something different about us; we're just people." Rose wonders if the only thing they'll learn about the other race during their six weeks together will be in the language of stereotypes. Pretty profound for a kid but it looks like the series will actually offer something a lot more substantial than that.