Recently, a contestant on VH1′s “Megan Wants A Millionaire” Ryan Jenkins killed himself (after becoming the lead suspect in the murder of his ex-wife).
The network’s president is starting to rethink their station’s dependency on reality programming. According to an article in the LA Times, VH1 says it was already in the process of plotting a new direction, and that the shift has taken on greater urgency since the incident.
VH1 has canceled both “Megan Wants a Millionaire” and “I Love Money 3,” which Jenkins had appeared on. They are reevaluating their reliance on 51 Minds Entertainment, the production company behind the two programs, as well as several other reality hitmakers which have been featured on the network over the last several years.
“This is not what I signed up for,” said VH1 President Tom Calderone in his first interview since Jenkins’ body was discovered Sunday in a British Columbia motel room. Calderone added that VH1 was “trying to get together” with 51 Minds to figure out where the vetting system went wrong and ”fix this problem and never ever let this happen again.”
Calderone also wants to bring some new producers into the mix. ”We always want 51 Minds to be part of our arsenal and stable of creativity, but the only way VH1 will survive and be healthy is to have several different voices and production partners,” he said.
Calderone points to “The T.O. Show,” its new program with NFL star Terrell Owens, as indicative of the direction he’d like to take the network. The show follows Owens as he transitions from being a star on America’s team (The Dallas Cowboys) to trying to rehabilitate his image and career on the Buffalo Bills. Calderone said he wants to bring a more “redemptive” feel to the network’s reality programming.
“We don’t want our viewers tuning in and feeling like it’s the same network all the time, that is not something we want to be famous for,” Calderone said.
Meanwhile, Linda Holmes of NPR has written a rebuttal article about VH1′s addiction to very bad things for ratings and makes a point:
“It’s simple logic. It’s the simplest logic, in fact: If you’re casting people because you believe their personalities are volatile — and any claim that these particular shows aren’t cast that way is patently, blatantly, laughably false — then you have no way of knowing what form that volatility will take. That’s what makes it volatility.”
Networks toppers rarely want to admit when something has failed in their arsenal. (Just ask Jeff Gaspin about “Joey,” the ill-fated “Friends” spinoff that died on the vine despite huge buzz and familiarity by audiences with the popular character.) But Holmes has a point — if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck …
Hopefully, Calderone has really seen the error of his network’s ways and will make good on his promise to improve the tone of the network and hopefully restore it to what it does best, presenting music in various formats and exposing audiences to breakthrough artists.
photo credit: latimes.com