We have officially gone too far.
We knew we were stretching with "America's Next Top Model," "Celebrity Mole" and "The Simple Life." But it became pretty clear we had run out of ideas when we came up with "My Big, Fat, Obnoxious Fianc+â-¬." A show created, it seems, to make people feel bad. -á
But now "the point of no return," the self-explanatory wall referred to by so many not-good actors in so many not-good movies, is upon us.
It arrived when UPN and CBS, both under the watchful eye of Viacom, announced plans to develop a new reality series called "Amish in the City."
Let the title set in for a few seconds.
The show plans to exploit the Amish experience known as "rumspringa," or "running wild," during which teenagers leave the barriers of the conservative religion to face temptation and question their faith.
To really make things interesting, though, the UPN will pair five "mainstream young adults" (read: attractive, cool, atypically wild and immoral) to live and hang out with the Amish teens, as Lisa de Moraes reported in her "The TV Column" for washingtonpost.com Monday.
So, the network that brings us "Eve," starring an ex-stripper/ex-rapper, and "Rock Me Baby," with our favorite former nobody, Dan Cortese, wants to let America make fun of Amish people en masse. (And it can't be far from inserting "Silly Christians" and "You Strange Taoists!" into its weeknight television lineup.)
Still, to ease the fears of the decent, UPN Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff and CBS CEO Leslie Moonves said the show will be "totally respectful" and is "not intended to insult," Moraes said in Monday's column.
Of course, we should say. Poking fun and exposing the insecurity of five Amish 16-year-olds as they make the biggest decision of their lives could never be disrespectful.
"Look! He doesn't know how to work a television! (Canned laughter)"
"Dude, no one uses 'In Da Club' as their ring tone now! (Canned laughter)"
"Oh my God! She's ... reading! (Cut to commercial)"
Ostroff and Moonves think America will think this is touching; Moonves likened "Amish in the City" to a "fish out of water" project.
In essence, it is. But it's also having fun at other people's expense, and it is not clear when that became entertaining. Though the Amish teens will be willing participants, there's nothing quite like religious crises and naked self-exploration to tickle our funny bones.
"Amish in the City" is set to air this summer, but that doesn't mean it has to. If you're at all bothered, speak up. A Moonves project has been cut down before: His "The Beverley Hillbillies" retread never took off because the Center for Rural Strategies protested the show's premise, Moraes said in Monday's column.
We can hope a similar interest group steps up, or we can write a few letters ourselves, because this idea is as bad as it gets. It's not clear what Ostroff and Moonves were thinking; it's not clear they were thinking. Though we can't fault them for trying to do their jobs, we can tell them our standards haven't sunk as low as theirs.
Write to Allyn at aswest@bsu.edu
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