{"id":159,"date":"2011-01-27T05:49:36","date_gmt":"2011-01-27T05:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html"},"modified":"2011-01-27T05:49:36","modified_gmt":"2011-01-27T05:49:36","slug":"mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html","title":{"rendered":"MTV sticks with sagging “Skins”; NBC pilots head for the edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

“The opposite of pornography.”<\/b><\/a> So proclaims the creator of MTV’s Skins<\/i> in answer to the growing chorus of critics that compare the sexually-provocative scripted series (with a largely underage cast) to child porn. Bryan Elsley says “The show is the opposite of pornography. It isn’t us who are being
\nprovocative. I think that some of the people who object to the show are
\nbeing provocative in the use of that word.” <\/i>Explaining the show, Elsley tells the LA Times that “It’s about a boy who is abandoned by his mother. How he deals with that
\nand how his friends come to realize that this happy-go-lucky boy has
\nled an incredibly sad and fractured life.”<\/i> Meanwhile, MTV continues to stick by the show<\/a> despite advertiser defections<\/a> and plummeting ratings<\/a>.
IMHO:<\/b> Having only seen clips from the show, I have no idea if it legally qualifies as child pornography. I do know that there are a whole of lot kids out there living positive lives (including helping others) and that dramatizing their stories could have an uplifting and inspiring impact on young viewers. But, apparently, that’s not the route MTV chooses to go in its programming.<\/p>\n

Edgy peacock.<\/b><\/a>
\nRoger Greenblatt, Comcast’s choice to run NBC, is promising to push
\nbroadcast boundaries with the kind of envelope-busting programming that
\nhas gotten Showtime (his former employer) so much attention. Showtime
\nis, of course, the home of Dexter<\/i>, the Miami Police forensic investigator who moonlights as a serial killer. So, apparently, a faithful remake of Quincy<\/i><\/a> is out at the new NBC.
A quick check of NBC’s pilots<\/a> indicates that Greenblatt is in the process of following through on his promise.
Comedies include: <\/b>
Are You There Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea<\/i> – Comedian Chelsea Handler is producing this edgy sitcom based on her book.
Brave New World<\/i>
\n– A single-camera comedy about the staff at a Plymouth plantation-type
\nliving museum where characters walk around dressed as pilgrims. (The theory being that funny hats will make any comedy funnier.)
I Hate That I Love You<\/i> – A
\nsingle-camera comedy in which a straight couple introduces two of
\nlesbian friends to each other and the pregnancy that results.
My Life as an Experiment<\/i> – A sitcom about the life of an immersion journalist<\/a> and how his
\nunusual assignments comedically affect his home life with his wife and
\ntwo kids.
\nUntitled Whitney Cummings<\/a> Project<\/i> – A  former cast member of MTV’s Punk’d<\/i><\/a> stars in a sitcom about a young couple struggling to maintain a committed<\/span> relationship in today’s complicated world.
\nDramas include:<\/b>
\n17th Precinct<\/i> – Described as Hill Street Blues<\/i><\/a> with supernatural elements.
\nMann’s World<\/i> –  An update on the 1975 Warren Beatty satirical film Shampoo<\/i><\/a>,
\nthis dramedy tells the story of a middle-aged straight Beverly Hills
\nhairdresser and his struggle to stay young and remain relevant in a land
\nwhere
\nlooks are everything.
\nPlayboy<\/i> – Set in the 1960’s, the men’s magazine gets the Mad Men<\/i><\/a> treatment.
\nS.I.L.A.<\/i> – Traffic<\/i><\/a>-like drama depicting a complex interweaving of crime, cops and politics in Los Angeles.
\nSmash<\/i> – A Steven Spielberg drama about the production of a Broadway play.
\nWonder Woman<\/i> – A David E. Kelley<\/a> remake of the iconic seventies TV series which itself wsa based on the classic DC Comics character<\/a>.
Reality shows include:<\/b>
The Boss is Coming to Dinner<\/i> – Job applicants throw a dinner party for their prospective employer.
Love in the Wild<\/i> – Survivor<\/i><\/a> meets The Bachelor<\/i><\/a>. 
\nIMHO:<\/b> I’m not saying these shows are going to be bad. As always it’ll be the
\nexecution that will count. But it does seem clear that edgy is in at
\nNBC and uplifting, warm and traditional isn’t. 
That strikes me as odd since the network’s cable sibling USA<\/a> has had enormous ratings with a non-envelope lineup of fairly traditional hour-long dramas like Monk<\/a>, Burn Notice<\/a>, White Collar<\/a><\/i> and Royal Pains<\/i><\/a> featuring likable characters.
\nThese shows have brought USA to the very pinnacle of the cable ratings.
\n
My personal theory is that audiences (aka real people) have lives that
\nare edgy enough. At the end of the day, they want to relax with shows
\nabout well-intentioned characters, with good stories and which support the
\nold-fashioned view that good does triumph over evil.
Moral ambiguity
\n(i.e. serial killers as heroes) that veers toward the amoral may be the height of sophistication among the glitterati but if you really want to appeal to masses, tell stories about
\nheroes who do the right thing. Even adults can use role models.    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The opposite of pornography.” So proclaims the creator of MTV’s Skins in answer to the growing chorus of critics that compare the sexually-provocative scripted series (with a largely underage cast) to child porn. Bryan Elsley says “The show is the opposite of pornography. It isn’t us who are being provocative. I think that some of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,5,16,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advertising","category-current-events","category-family-matters","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nMTV sticks with sagging "Skins"; NBC pilots head for the edge - Catholics Media and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MTV sticks with sagging "Skins"; NBC pilots head for the edge - Catholics Media and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“The opposite of pornography.” So proclaims the creator of MTV’s Skins in answer to the growing chorus of critics that compare the sexually-provocative scripted series (with a largely underage cast) to child porn. Bryan Elsley says “The show is the opposite of pornography. It isn’t us who are being provocative. I think that some of…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholics Media and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-27T05:49:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. Kennedy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MTV sticks with sagging \"Skins\"; NBC pilots head for the edge - Catholics Media and Culture","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MTV sticks with sagging \"Skins\"; NBC pilots head for the edge - Catholics Media and Culture","og_description":"“The opposite of pornography.” So proclaims the creator of MTV’s Skins in answer to the growing chorus of critics that compare the sexually-provocative scripted series (with a largely underage cast) to child porn. Bryan Elsley says “The show is the opposite of pornography. It isn’t us who are being provocative. I think that some of…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html","og_site_name":"Catholics Media and Culture","article_published_time":"2011-01-27T05:49:36+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html","name":"MTV sticks with sagging \"Skins\"; NBC pilots head for the edge - Catholics Media and Culture","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-01-27T05:49:36+00:00","dateModified":"2011-01-27T05:49:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/01\/mtv-sticks-with-skins-nbc-pilots-head-for-the-edge.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MTV sticks with sagging “Skins”; NBC pilots head for the edge"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/","name":"Catholics Media and Culture","description":"Catholic Church News and More","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","caption":"John W. Kennedy"},"description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media & Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations & Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}