A planned new entry into the reality TV genre from basic cable’s Oxygen has been scrapped after its subject matter sparked pushback from a wide variety of watchdog organizations.
Change.org was one of the leaders of the protest, and it produced a petition with some 37K signatures urging Oxygen to scrap the project. Other supporters of the campaign included Parents Television Council, Industry Ears, Rap Rehab, The Odyssey Project, Black Men in America, and Los Angeles radio host Mo’ Kelly.
“On this official birthday of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, who fought for justice for all, and especially children, he once said, ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.’ I am pleased that Oxygen Media has heard the outrage of over 37,000 consumers and shareholders who said, ‘enough is enough,’” said Change.org’s Sabrina Lamb, who started the petition. “We will not support any network and advertiser which exploits the plight of children and targets young women with stereotypical, dangerous, unsafe messages. This petition, this victory is for them. Adults have choices and today, children, through 37,000 petitioners, have voices.”
Oxygen informed Change.org of its decision with the following statement: “As part of our development process, we have reviewed casting and decided not to move forward with the special. We will continue to develop compelling content that resonates with our young female viewers and drives the cultural conversation.”
The program was to focus on the activities of a rapper who has 11 children with 10 different women.
RBR-TVBR observation: What a relief. We will be spared watching a show we had no plans to watch, on a channel that may or may not be available on our current cable TV lineup which we would have to hunt down if it is.
Even if we stumbled upon the program, we would not watch it. That’s because our television set comes with a channeling device!
Let us add that even if we did watch the program, we would not be inspired to run out and impregnate as many women as possible. Nor, we are quite certain, would our children. We aren’t disappointed that this program is going away, but on the other hand, we wouldn’t be sweating it if it was actually shown.
