I understand that a lot goes into putting these shows together, but there has to be a better way to deal with actual reality when it creeps into our reality programs.Tucson Weekly’s Dan Gibson • Offering up a good point on last night’s news that a reality show contestant, Wesley Durden, committed suicide, but the TLC show, “Next Great Baker,” hid it from the audience until he had been eliminated from the program. “They did throw a card up at the end,” Gibson points out, “but this still seems like a series of bad decisions to me and wildly insensitive to the guy’s family and friends, but maybe we’re still all supposed to be upset that the same network runs a show about Muslims or something.” And that, friends, is a great point. Here’s a network that’s getting criticized for the wrong thing: Instead of getting wrongly criticized for airing reality shows about Muslims, they should be getting rightly criticized for their intense focus on ratings in the face of the ethical treatment of the people it puts on its shows. source (via • follow)
Sad reality TV plot twist of the night: Fans of the TLC reality show “Next Great Baker” got a major shock tonight when they found out that one of the contestants, Wesley Durden, an Army paratrooper noted for his baking skills, died. But it didn’t happen this week. In fact, he died way back in October, a victim of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The network apparently chose to wait until he had been eliminated from the show to break the news to viewers, creating a double-whammy effect. Twitter is in disbelief right now.
Just purchased remaining spots for #allamericanmuslim for next week. The show is now sold out! keep your money @lowes and we will keep ours.Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons • Revealing (via Twitter) that he had purchased the spaces that Lowe’s had vacated when they backed down to pressure over their advertising on the TLC reality program “All-American Muslim.” According to his rep, he bought two spots, but hasn’t decided what to put in them yet. Russell, you’re a badass. Meanwhile, Lowe’s is defending its decision, claiming it was one of “dozens” of companies that had pulled advertising support from the show — a claim difficult to back up, especially considering that TLC is claiming that the show is doing well advertiser-wise. The home improvement chain bent to pressure from an obscure group called the Florida Family Association in removing their ads from the program. source (via • follow)
The main purpose of the Florida Family Association seems to be getting name brands to stop advertising on television programs that dare talk about subjects such as transgenderism, Islam, or homosexuality. They got Lowe’s to pull ads from a reality show called ”All-American Muslim” — a move already receiving blowback from progressives. The FFA is trying for a conservative twist on the mechanism used to hurt Glenn Beck’s advertiser base back in 2009. But, here’s the real question: Who’s gonna be the first brand to ask the Florida Family Association to take their logo off of their Web site? We see tons of brands and a site which is arguably as damaging the other way.
» This season will be their last. TLC decided not to renew “Kate Plus 8” after the current season. The network may continue to check in with the family — famously torn apart after Kate Gosselin divorced her husband Jon, with the reality TV fallout that followed — through televised specials. Thank goodness, because we were getting worried.
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