Reality Shows - Real Hillbillies!

[mysticelt]

So they loaded up granny and move the clan to Beverly Hill with a cement pond?
This could get really ugly. Is there anyone here who thinks this would be a good idea?



CBS: 'Hillbillies' Reality Series Alive




CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves said Sunday a reality version of "The Beverly Hillbillies" remains a possibility, despite sharp criticism of the idea as a mockery of rural Americans.

"Obviously, there's a lot more controversy involved with the show than I ever imagined there would be, including from many labor unions," Moonves told a meeting of the Television Critics Association.

Unions, politicians and others across the South have attacked the proposed series, which would pay an Appalachian family up to $500,000 to live for a year in a Hollywood mansion.

"The Real Beverly Hillbillies" is a takeoff on the hit sitcom that ran on CBS from 1962-71.

Moonves said he was surprised at some of the criticism, including a February speech by Sen. Zell Miller, D-Georgia, who called the show a bigoted attack on the rural poor.

The speech given shortly before the start of the war on Iraq "sort of shocked me, considering world events and what I always thought the U.S. Senate was supposed to do," Moonves said.

CBS still is considering the show but hasn't made a decision yet, he said.

Attacks on a possible "Hillbillies" series have been launched by Southern community leaders and others. In May, West Virginia and Kentucky mine workers protested outside a shareholders' meeting at the Manhattan headquarters of CBS's parent company, Viacom, and met with Viacom chief operating officer Mel Karmazin.

CBS has said there is no concept for the show yet and that the network is not trying to offend anyone.

During the TV critics' question-and-answer session, one reporter noted that CBS tended to stick with controversial projects, such as last season's miniseries about the early years of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

While Moonves called it a stretch to compare the "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" and "Beverly Hillbillies" projects, he defended his network's willingness to take chances.

"If we're not doing something controversial that makes somebody unhappy, we're not doing our job right," Moonves said.

Mooves said premature criticism of "Rise of Evil" was not borne out and he is proud of the finished work, which drew a best-miniseries Emmy nomination last week.

[Timber Loftis]

Can it be any worse than the Jaywalk Allstars??

You know, we used to call reality TV

GAME SHOWS

When did that terminology go out of style?

[johnny]

You gotta be kidding me. TV is getting cheesier every day.

[Cloudbringer]

Really does go to show "anything for a buck" is alive and well and reality tv nowadays! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[antryg]

MTV puts poor kids on TV in a big house and gets them jobs and nobody complains. CBS wants to move a family that probably doesn't have indoor plumbing into a Beverly Hills mansion for a year and then give them $500,000 and that is defaming poor people. Hey, they can use my family and film us. I've already got indoor plumbing but could really use them money. I just think it is jealousy that they won't be chosen. By the way, when did Appalachia become the South? West Virginia is "West" because it broke away from the South.

[mysticelt]

Originally posted by antryg: MTV puts poor kids on TV in a big house and gets them jobs and nobody complains. CBS wants to move a family that probably doesn't have indoor plumbing into a Beverly Hills mansion for a year and then give them $500,000 and that is defaming poor people. Hey, they can use my family and film us. I've already got indoor plumbing but could really use them money. I just think it is jealousy that they won't be chosen. By the way, when did Appalachia become the South? West Virginia is "West" because it broke away from the South.

Beaker!

Come in from out in the sun and have a cold drink. You have friends here! We will call it whatever you want! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[khazadman]

What the people at CBS are really saying is that if you are not from, say Boston, New York, or LA, you are to be viewed as a hick. I bet these Appalacians would do better in Hollywood than someone like Moonves would in the hollows of West Virginia or Kentucky.

[antryg]

I agree. It doesn't take skill to sit inside an air conditioned home. I do know people that couldn't survive a camping trip in a state park. If they really want a show then do a swap. Take someone from backwoods Appalachia and have them swap homes with someone like....Bill Gates. I think everone would watch the show just to see the rich guy suffering from mosquito bites, poison ivy, and real weather.