posted on August 29, 2002 10:41:25 AM new
This is on the front page of the WASHINGTON POST this morning. Have we sunk so low that this is considered news or is that what the POST is asking too?
I am taking bets. Who will get screwed with this new show? The Beverly Hillbillies were not real, the kids filmed in this show will be. Will the Beverly Hills kids or the rural kids ending up looking like idiots?
Note that these CBS men are looking for a family, presumably with younger kids, because the show will target younger ages.
How sad.
[b]Gold in Them Thar 'Hillbillies'?
CBS Plans a Real-Life Version of Its '60s Hick Hit[/b]
By Lisa de Moraes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 29, 2002; Page A01
CBS is bringing back "The Beverly Hillbillies." This time, however, the family members we laugh at won't be played by Hollywood actors; they'll be real live rubes from the South.
After spending decades trying to shed the Bubba image it contracted in the 1960s when its prime-time lineup included a slew of backcountry characters, CBS has decided to embrace once again its biggest hick hit of all. The network already has a crew of casting agents combing "mountainous, rural areas" in Arkansas, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky in search of a "multi-generational family of five or more -- parents, children and grandparents -- who will be relocated for at least a year" to a mansion in Beverly Hills, said CBS spokesman Chris Ender.
<snip>
Edited because I can't get bolding to work.
[ edited by aposter on Aug 29, 2002 10:44 AM ]
posted on August 29, 2002 11:31:26 AM new
Honestly, I don't think anyone will get screwed. The family will know what they're in for going into the project and they'll come out of it with new experiences, new connections, and new opportunities. They win, the production company wins, the network wins (assuming the ratings are high enough) and those who choose to watch it will be entertained.
It's probably a bit un-PC, but getting screwed? Nah.
posted on August 29, 2002 11:43:00 AM new
>>Note that these CBS men are looking for a family, presumably with younger kids, because the show will target younger ages.
How sad.<<
Could be a fantastic opportunity for some family. Can you imagine the amount of money the AG will generate for them. Someone is going to strike "black gold." I doubt CBS is going to put themselves in a position where they'll be accused of riduling Southern Americans or paying them $10.00 plus room and board.
Plus it's the parent's choice, and none of our business. To protect this family, whoever they will be, demonstrates that we presume they will be stupid and crude--stereotypical "country."
posted on August 29, 2002 12:13:41 PM new
cyn: "Plus it's the parent's choice, and none of our business. To protect this family, whoever they will be, demonstrates that we presume they will be stupid and crude--stereotypical 'country.'"
Actually I think that a whole lot of people, myself included, would consider country people the ones with alot of common sense.
I worry more whether the TV cameras will be allowed into classses, or after school events. If they are playing up to kids, that would be the way to go.
Our schools are becoming walking advertisements for Coke, Pepsi and whatever company pays thousands! Maybe we will see TV cameras filming at Beverly Hills High with a CBS sign proudly waving over the football field, on top of the new sign paid for by the company.
They didn't say what ages they are looking for, but the networks seem to be targeting young teens and high schoolers in today's programming.
I am not a reality TV watcher though and I have never seen the Ozzie Ozborn show. I did see one Survivor set, and that was for the scenery. Won't be watching it again.
The Post used the term "Hick Hit." It will be used again while promoting this show. You can count on it. And that is indeed sad.
posted on August 29, 2002 12:35:24 PM new
Sure, they might make money & meet people, but the main reason for having something like this is to get laughs at their expense.
You obviously DONT watch most TV! This is Emmy material compared to the Anna Nicole show. There they give you the daily exploits of a women with the IQ of a pithed frog.
I don't know if exploiting them is the saddest thing. What I want to know is after the Beverly Hills life-style and giving them fancy gifts, what happens to them when they push them out the limo door back in Dogpatch???
posted on August 29, 2002 01:01:32 PM new
They need a good lawyer and a long term contract.
Aposter you asked about bolding...
Nothing that I have tried works today either...couldn't even get a link to work But with bolding, you need a starting tag and and ending tag for each line. unless you type an entire paragraph without hitting "enter" In your post, for example it should look like this...
[b]Gold in Them Thar 'Hillbillies'?[/ b]
[b]CBS Plans a Real-Life Version of Its '60s Hick Hit[/ b]
(I left a space in the ending tags so that it wouldn't work.
If you want to bold an entire paragraph, just keep typing without hitting enter or return. Then you can bold with just a [b] tag at the beginning of the paragraph and a [/ b] at the end.
posted on August 29, 2002 01:27:43 PM new
There will be a special place in Hell for the producer of this show....
The world can not end soon enough......
.
A Man will spend $2.00 for a $1.00 item he needs.
A Woman will spend $1.00 for a $2.00 item she doesn't need.
posted on August 29, 2002 01:35:38 PM new
DeSquirrel,
No, I think the word is SAD! Teenagers and younger people have a hard enough time getting through their hormones without adding a camera to the mix.
And no, I don't watch TV much anymore. I saw a review of Anna's/Anne's show and that was enough.
DeSquirrel, you said "What I want to know is after the Beverly Hills life-style and giving them fancy gifts, what happens to them when they push them out the limo door back in Dogpatch???"
Dogpatch? Now, that is disgusting! Maybe they
will learn what happens in those "other houses" is indeed not worth the effort to get. I did.
posted on August 29, 2002 01:47:46 PM new
I did not intend "Dogpatch" to be offensive, merely as "shorthand". The "premise" of this show is to abuse these people and pay them for it. They could go to Bed-Sty or some other poor neighborhood, but that would be politically incorrect. So instead they're going to go find a poor family that talks funny. It is the video equivalent of midget tossing.
posted on August 29, 2002 01:59:42 PM new
Maybe after this, they'll make a show with handicapped people trying to live together & what fun it would be watching them bump wheelchairs or trying to feed themselves...
posted on August 29, 2002 04:33:20 PM new
none of those three shows from the 60's was seriously demeaning to REAL country people, and if you remember, the city folks portrayed in all of them often ended up being the real doofuses....as a kid, a "country kid"...I watched all of them, and my family and our neighbors were not offended...granted we are not southerners...and IMHO Green Acres remains one of the funniest shows of all time...right up there with Andy Griffith...if this one is to compete with the other "reality/voyeur" shows, it will by definition have to put down and make an idiot out of someone....and the someone will be a real person, NOT Mr. Ziffel....on the other hand, Jerry Springer has been putting down and making idiots out of unattractive people who have not discovered shirts with sleeves, and who all sound like they are from New Joisy or rural Pennsylvania for years, and nobody has raised a stink about stereotyping, so what's the difference?
Country people have chores to do, and half of us have busted Tee-Vees, so we probably will not be watching........
posted on August 29, 2002 05:28:51 PM new
I think that this kind of stereotypical portrayal of southern culture in a negative manner is offensive. To search the south for a tobacco road family to live in a Beverly Hills Mansion in order to provide entertainment is inconsiderate in my opinion.
Except for news or special events such as the olympics, I don't watch TV.
posted on August 29, 2002 05:44:22 PM new
Personaly, I don't want to see the world end because of bad television programing.
Even though TV seems to have gone over the deep end all anyone has to do is not watch it. I know I watch less and less TV all the time and I was born to the first TV generation.
posted on August 29, 2002 07:06:12 PM new
>>I think that this kind of stereotypical portrayal of southern culture in a negative manner is offensive. To search the south for a tobacco road family to live in a Beverly Hills Mansion in order to provide entertainment is inconsiderate in my opinion.<<
This is a stupid thread.
Helen, this is all irresponsible speculation. We are clueless as to what they're up to. For all we know they'll settle on a subdivision family in Snellville, GA.
Let's talk voraciously about the show when it appears. Not that I'll be watching either.
posted on August 30, 2002 05:57:22 AM new
No, I don't think it is stupid. Not any more than the fluff threads that is. Just something to think about.
What would really be stupid is if those of you reading this who feel strongly don't call or email CBS!
I called a CBS affiliate yesterday morning before I posted this. You do get a live human. I told the guy why I was calling and his response was that of disgust too. Someone in the background was apparently filling him in on either the Variety or Post story.
posted on August 30, 2002 07:02:55 AM new
It's important to realize that the producers of such programs are denigrating both the southern family that they choose AND the viewer or their intended audience.
posted on August 30, 2002 08:10:31 AM new
I think Helen is right. But I will also add
that young wealthy children would be victims too. None of the children will win in this situation.
I was going to say that I wouldn't mind so much if they were using the ages that the original B Hillbillies portrayed, but I don't think that would be right either.
The TV networks are giving the people what they want, or what they think they want.
I haven't seen a Jerry Springer show, but have seen a couple minutes when some news programs show what degrading thing he has come up with.
