"Welcome to the Neighborhood" cancelled due to controversy

[DaveyG]

Please feel free to discuss in a manner that won't get this thread locked.

------------------------------------------------

ABC pulls reality show before its debut
From AP Wire

''Welcome to the Neighborhood,'' an ABC reality series that pushes hot buttons of racism and anti-homosexuality, was pulled by the network before its debut.

The program had drawn criticism from groups claiming it risked fostering prejudice.

In a statement Wednesday, ABC acknowledged the delicate nature of the series in which families asked to pick a new neighbor are made to expose and overcome their biases.

''Welcome to the Neighborhood'' demonstrates what happens when people are forced to ''confront preconceived notions of what makes a good neighbor,'' the network said.

''However, the fact that true change only happens over time made the episodic nature of this series challenging, and given the sensitivity of the subject matter in early episodes we have decided not to air the series at this time.''

The six-episode show, which was to debut July 10, follows three families in Austin, Texas, who are given the chance to choose a new neighbor for a house on their street.

Each family initially wants someone similar to them -- white and conservative.

Instead, they must choose from families that are black, Hispanic and Asian; two gay white men who've adopted a black child; a couple covered in tattoos and piercings; a couple who met at the woman's initiation as a witch; and a poor white family.

In the early episodes, one man makes a crack about the number of children piling out of the Hispanic family's car and displays of affection between the gay men provoke disgust.

The series' producers had said it was intended to promote a healthy and open debate about prejudice and people's fear of differences.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, after viewing the series, expressed strong concerns.

While it ultimately carries a valuable message about diversity and acceptance, those watching the first episodes could be left thinking discrimination is ''not that big a deal,'' GLAAD spokesman Damon Romine said Wednesday.

''Regardless of how things turn out at the end of the last show, it's dangerous to let intolerance and bigotry go unchallenged for weeks at a time,'' he said, adding that GLAAD hopes a revised version might air.

Before ABC announced its decision, the Family Research Council said it was worried evangelicals would be made to appear judgmental and foolish.

[SparkleMotion]

Before ABC announced its decision, the Family Research Council said it was worried evangelicals would be made to appear judgmental and foolish.I wish I had a comment about this statement that I could present here.

[Tangent]

http://www.aspencountry.com/aspen/assets/product_images/product_lib/31000-31999/31655.jpg

[DaveyG]

You know what, I'm cross posting this somewhere else.

[pawchikapawpaw]

having never really seen the series, allow me to make up opinions about it:


Those Goddurn White Christian Republican Straight Texan People again! Racists! Bigots! Funny looking! With Pearls!
The Gays shure know how to work a bakesale! Fantabulous!
Oh my goodness, how many Tamales are they feeding those kids?!
They're not Black, they're just really, really, really dark skinned. So don't call them Black.


what. i mean since no one in this forum has actually seen the series, it's okay to slander the Icky White Texan Republican Christian Fundamentalist Straight Family. right? they had it coming anyways, after all, they are white and they did horrible things to other races/orientation/political preference. by association, of course, but meh. same thing.

[boywaja]

I wish I had a comment about this statement that I could present here.

let me guess. you have a judgemental and foolish comment to make about christians.

[TIVOSciolist]

Each family initially wants someone similar to them -- white and conservative.

Instead, they must choose from families that are black, Hispanic and Asian; two gay white men who've adopted a black child; a couple covered in tattoos and piercings; a couple who met at the woman's initiation as a witch; and a poor white family.

Finally, a reality show that an Asian had a decent chance of winning . . . and it gets cancelled.

[dswallow]

I don't really care what the content was about.

But one less reality show is always a good thing.

[MikeCC]

I don't really care what the content was about.

But one less reality show is always a good thing.

This sums up my feelings about the so called reality shows, or maybe the industry calls 'em "unscripted" shows.

They are a blight on the television season, so good riddance to them all!

Now I can go back to complaining about the SCRIPTED crap! ;)

[SparkleMotion]

let me guess. you have a judgemental and foolish comment to make about christians.Keep guessing. :rolleyes:

[Big_Daddy]

I don't really care what the content was about.

But one less reality show is always a good thing.

Wouldn't watch it, won't miss it, don't care. Death to crappy reality shows.

[Bradc314]

I thought it was funny that it was GLAAD and others making noise about the show that caused ABC to cancel it, and then the very last line in this article slams the FRC.

Why is no one offering up the cries of "Censorship!", or "If you don't like it, change the channel!!" to GLAAD as they do when the FRC complains about programming?

I guess the pendulum only swings one way in certain arguments.

[whoknows55]

I thought it was funny that it was GLAAD and others making noise about the show that caused ABC to cancel it, and then the very last line in this article slams the FRC.

Why is no one offering up the cries of "Censorship!", or "If you don't like it, change the channel!!" to GLAAD as they do when the FRC complains about programming?

I guess the pendulum only swings one way in certain arguments.

I do find it funny that GLAAD's protest caused ABC to cancel the show. It must have been a big shock to them that people out there dislike the gays.

But come on, why turn down a chance to take a shot at the FRC. ;)

[newsposter]

Well they are free to make whatever show they want.

They are free to air it.

They are free not to air it

They are free to listen to specific groups and take that under advisement then make a decision

We are free to not watch it

We are free to watch it

We are free to hate who we want

We are free to not like how someone lives

We are free to approve of others' lives

We are free to ignore others

We are free to congregate with who we wish (unless you are a felon)

We are free to judge others (fairly or not)

They apparently have exercised their freedom not to stir up controversy and air the show. I think that is the only thing most everyone can agree on about this show.

I'm now going to freely go to lunch and not even worry about what others do or think of me.

(did i keep from locking the thread? :))

[dswallow]

I'm now going to freely go to lunch and not even worry about what others do or think of me.
You may freely go to lunch, but there's still no such thing as a free lunch.

[RegBarc]

It was just a bad idea to begin with. One less crappy show on TV.

[DaveyG]

It was just a bad idea to begin with. One less crappy show on TV.

Hey, it's not as bad an idea as say...shaving one's head. ;)

[Keith_R90210]

Hey, it's not as bad an idea as say...shaving one's head. ;)

it certainly can't be as bad as other trainwrecks that have been introduced this Summer; *cough* Dancing with the Stars *cough*.

In all seriousness this show looked sort of interesting and I probably would have given it a shot, I'm usually not much of one for reality Tv though.

[LoadStar]

Gotta admit, the commercials for the series kinda made me cringe. No loss to see the airing scrubbed.

[newsposter]

I didn't see in the article how they voted people out. It's not a reality show unless someone leaves every week! For goodness sakes, even beauty/geek votes someone off. So I think the show must be more a documentary than a reality show.

Wonder how it worked out in real life(assuming the taping is complete)

[justapixel]

I'd have watched it.

Sounds an awful lot like Wife Swap to me. Instead of putting the California lesbian wife in with the Texas Gun-toting husband, they switch neighbors.

Hell, I'd trade my conservative neighbors for a gay couple with a black child ANY day. :)

I wonder what got GLADD in a tizzy about this one, as opposed to all the other shows out there that show homosexuals in less than a flattering light?

[super dave]

Maybe this article can shed a little more light on this. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/12028459.htm

ABC drops 'Neighborhood' amid protest

By Felicia R. Lee

New York Times News Service


Under pressure from civil-rights groups, ABC has canceled plans to broadcast Welcome to the Neighborhood, a reality show that let three white suburban families decide which of seven families - including one black, one Asian, one Hispanic, and one gay couple - would move into their community.

The one-hour program, developed by MGM and the producers behind shows including Extreme Makeover, was to have begun a six-episode run on July 10.

In the programs, all of which were completed, seven diverse families seek votes from the three resident families in a development outside Austin, Texas. The white families, through a series of interviews, competitions and social interactions, award a four-bedroom house to the winner - a neighbor, the families say, who will fit in with the community's mostly Christian and Republican values.

Critics of Welcome to the Neighborhood said it violated the letter and spirit of fair-housing laws by allowing factors such as religion to be a consideration in awarding the house.

A statement released by ABC on Wednesday said the intention was to show "the transformative process that takes place when people are forced to confront preconceived notions of what makes a good neighbor, and we believe the series delivers exactly that."

"However," the statement continued, "the fact that true change only happens over time made the episodic nature of this series challenging, and given the sensitivity of the subject matter in early episodes we have decided not to air the series at this time."

An earlier ABC news release promoting the show said in part: "Will the resident neighbors be able to see past their own ideals and accept all of the families as people instead of stereotypes? Eventually some eyes and hearts open up, opinions change, and a community is transformed."

In the first two episodes, some members of the voting families are seen making disparaging remarks about the gay family (two white men with a black child), questioning whether a Korean family was foreign-born, and rejecting a white family who practiced Wicca, a pagan religion. One family was to be rejected each week until the last remaining family won the house.

"The show directly violated the federal Fair Housing Act by rejecting families because of their race, color, national origin or the presence of children," said Shanna Smith, president and chief executive of the National Fair Housing Alliance, consisting of more than 100 private nonprofit housing agencies across the country.

The alliance led a campaign asking housing agencies and civil-rights groups to urge ABC not to broadcast the show. Smith said she also had been in talks with network executives.

"I'm elated," Smith said of the cancellation. "There'll be no copycat shows by the other networks. Also, ABC understands there are civil-rights issues and understands the implications."

Some alliance members contended that even though the families willingly entered the competition and were seeking to win a house rather than buy it, the law stipulates that characteristics such as race or religion cannot be considered, even in giving away property. The members also said they worried that the program sent the message that bigotry was tolerable in a nation struggling with many forms of discrimination.

[spelcheker]

Hey, it's not as bad an idea as say...shaving one's head. ;)


What chu talkin bout Willis?

[IndyTom]

Face it - if this show started as three black families or 3 gay couples, etc. the "conservatives", the "hispanics, and the "asian families" would have faced the same level of discrimination.

Discrimination is everywhere and not limited to particular sectors. Sociology has proven for 10,000 years that people gravitate to those more like them. We faced it growing up in schools - with the cliques, and it's no different in any cul-de-sac (or inner city for that matter) around the country.

I can't imagine any nightclub that would be forced to be diverse. They would all tank.

[TIVOSciolist]

"However," the statement continued, "the fact that true change only happens over time made the episodic nature of this series challenging, and given the sensitivity of the subject matter in early episodes we have decided not to air the series at this time."

What ABC did was either illegal or it was not. If it was illegal and the show has already been finished, then all ABC has done is to decide not show evidence of their illegal acts.

I can't imagine any nightclub that would be forced to be diverse. They would all tank.

I've always thought it would be interesting to make it illegal to mention ethnicity preferences in personals ads. What would happen if lonely hearts were forced to be as unprejudiced as they all claim they are?

[dswallow]

I've always thought it would be interesting to make it illegal to mention ethnicity preferences in personals ads. What would happen if lonely hearts were forced to be as unprejudiced as they all claim they are?
You can never force people to be unprejudiced in personal ads; all that would happen if the ads themselves had to be lacking anything that might be racial/ethnic-specific is that the weeding out of those the advertiser doesn't want would en dup occurring after someone's wasted their time replying/meeting.

The other consideration is where to draw the line on waht constitutes being worthy of preventing in personal ads. For example, "prejudice" or "discrimination" occurs in gender roles too; do we prevent people from mentioning gender in such ads? It would certainly be amusing, but it would also be mostly pointless for many to bother with, then.

[Anubys]

All I want is to have been a fly on the wall when the idea for this show was being pitched...

[fm37212]

A show that offends everyone would have been a huge success.

[RegBarc]

You can never force people to be unprejudiced in personal ads; all that would happen if the ads themselves had to be lacking anything that might be racial/ethnic-specific is that the weeding out of those the advertiser doesn't want would en dup occurring after someone's wasted their time replying/meeting.

The other consideration is where to draw the line on waht constitutes being worthy of preventing in personal ads. For example, "prejudice" or "discrimination" occurs in gender roles too; do we prevent people from mentioning gender in such ads? It would certainly be amusing, but it would also be mostly pointless for many to bother with, then.:up:

[Supfreak26]

What's funny about this is that the ones that probably would be made to look like fools in this show are the conservative white folks.

I'm just so glad these organizations are out there to prevent this bad stuff from being exposed to my delicate, impressionable brain. :rolleyes:

I think what makes me the angriest is that there is no organization to protect my average, white boy arse. White people are constantly made fun of in mainstream movies and by comedians of all races. I actually heard a black man call a white man a "cracker" on a Mary Kate and Ashley film. Personally, I'm not offended but imagine the controversy if a white man called a black man the "N word" in that same film! You can't allow one thing if you can't do the other. You shouldn't anways.

As for the show being cancelled.... don't care. Wouldn't watch it anyways.

[IndyTom]

I think what makes me the angriest is that there is no organization to protect my average, white boy arse.

Truth of the matter is - white people really don't mind being made fun of by the other races.

As a white guy - I find the white jokes quite comical. Maybe it's because if we can laugh at ourselves, it might bring us all (all ethnicities) closer together in some way.

[RegBarc]

Truth of the matter is - white people really don't mind being made fun of by the other races.

As a white guy - I find the white jokes quite comical. Maybe it's because if we can laugh at ourselves, it might bring us all (all ethnicities) closer together in some way.But still, many blacks/hispanics/asians/whatever also don't mind being made fun of. There is still protection. Imagine this: Remember "White Chicks"? Imagine if there was a film "Black Chicks" where the director and writers made gross generalization about black girls, and the director was white. There would be an uproar. Boycots.

White Chicks comes out and everyone pats the Waynes brothers on the back. Seems a little odd, if you ask me.

[IndyTom]

But still, many blacks/hispanics/asians/whatever also don't mind being made fun of. There is still protection. Imagine this: Remember "White Chicks"? Imagine if there was a film "Black Chicks" where the director and writers made gross generalization about black girls, and the director was white. There would be an uproar. Boycots.

White Chicks comes out and everyone pats the Waynes brothers on the back. Seems a little odd, if you ask me.

No, I agree with you. We can go on and on about Miss Black USA pageants, etc etc. but the truth of the matter is - the "white male" in our western society has always had an unspoken superiority complex - which most likely makes it much, much easier to take others jabs. Just my humble opinion of course!

I certainly don't want to debate why those generalizations are there - just that they are, indeed there.

What was this thread about - I forgot? ;)

[Anubys]

Truth of the matter is - white people really don't mind being made fun of by the other races.

As a white guy - I find the white jokes quite comical. Maybe it's because if we can laugh at ourselves, it might bring us all (all ethnicities) closer together in some way.

what are you talking about? white people have not been discriminated against, enslaved, or treated like animals...what do white people have to be sensitive about?

[IndyTom]

what are you talking about? white people have not been discriminated against, enslaved, or treated like animals...what do white people have to be sensitive about?


You missed my point. I agree with you completely. Those are the very reasons why it's easier for whites to take Hollywoods slams at us (I am white).

[Supfreak26]

Truth of the matter is - white people really don't mind being made fun of by the other races.

As a white guy - I find the white jokes quite comical. Maybe it's because if we can laugh at ourselves, it might bring us all (all ethnicities) closer together in some way.


Don't get me wrong. I'm not offended at all. I laugh as well.

But my point is that if they are allowed to make fun of white folks then it should be fair game for us to make fun of other races. People need to get a sense of humor and be able to laugh at themselves.

As for this show, god forbid we have a reality show that actually shows something REAL. Racial tension still exists today and probably will always exist. Thankfully, it's not as bad as it used to be but I believe it will always be there. To block this show so we can pretend that we're all one big happy family is ridiculous.

If you ask me, it's these special interest groups that keep racial tension alive and strong today.

[Supfreak26]

what are you talking about? white people have not been discriminated against, enslaved, or treated like animals...what do white people have to be sensitive about?


Maybe I'm sensitive about being connected with something that I had absolutely nothing to do with. My family is from the north and likely fought for their freedom. Yet I'm still grouped with the very small minority of white folks that actually owned or traded slaves.

That's like saying all black people are responsible for the one black guy that mugged me in a dark alley. *

Yeah that's fair. :rolleyes:





* Actually never happened. Just trying to prove a point.

[sushikitten]

My most recent Entertainment Weekly still listed this as being on. How could EW get it wrong?

[Uncle Briggs]

From what I've read about the show, and from a couple of the clips I saw of it, I think it is a good thing it was pulled from the schedule. It seems like it was offensive to all groups

[newsposter]

From what I've read about the show, and from a couple of the clips I saw of it, I think it is a good thing it was pulled from the schedule. It seems like it was offensive to all groups

if true, then it sounds like a 'fair-'ly offensive program. But I doubt it truly could be balanced. I guess it would be like south park for network tv. (they piss everyone off) Just won't happen.

[Mike Farrington]

I hope someone who reviewed the show give the tape/dvd to someone who knows how to upload it to a torrent site.

-Mike

[dswallow]

January 21, 2006

Television Cul-de-Sac Mystery: Why Was Reality Show Killed?
By JACQUES STEINBERG

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/21/arts/television/21welc.html?hp&ex=1137906000&en=43df4035c8d21fca&ei=5094&partner=homepage

AUSTIN, Tex. - A year ago, Stephen Wright and his partner, John Wright, embarked on a sociology experiment that only a reality show producer could concoct: theirs was one of seven families competing to persuade the residents of a cul-de-sac here to award them a red-brick McMansion purchased on their behalf by the ABC television network.

The unscripted series, "Welcome to the Neighborhood," was heavily promoted and scheduled to appear in a summer time slot usually occupied by "Desperate Housewives." Stephen Wright, 51, who was already living in a nice house a few miles away with his partner and adopted son, said he participated primarily for one reason: to show tens of millions of prime-time viewers that a real gay family might, over the course of six episodes, charm a neighborhood whose residents overwhelmingly identified themselves as white, Christian and Republican.

As it turned out, the Wrights did win - beating families cast, at least partly, for being African-American, Hispanic, Korean, tattooed or even Wiccan - but outside of a few hundred neighbors (who attended private screenings last summer) and a handful of journalists, almost no one has been able to see them do so.

Ten days before the first episode was to be shown, ABC executives canceled "Welcome to the Neighborhood," saying that they were concerned that viewers who might have been appalled at some early statements made in the show - including homophobic barbs - might not hang in for the sixth episode, when several of those same neighbors pronounced themselves newly open-minded about gays and other groups.

ABC acted amid protests by the National Fair Housing Alliance, which had expressed concern about a competition in which race, religion and sexual orientation were discussed as factors in the awarding of a house. But two producers of the show, speaking publicly about the cancellation for the first time, say the network was confident it had the legal standing to give away a house as a game-show prize. One, Bill Kennedy, a co-executive producer who helped develop the series with his son, Eric, suggested an alternative explanation. He said that the protests might have been most significant as a diversion that allowed the Walt Disney Company, ABC's owner, to pre-empt a show that could have interfered with a much bigger enterprise: the courting of evangelical Christian audiences for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Disney hoped that the film, widely viewed as a parable of the Resurrection, would be the first in a profitable movie franchise.

In the months and weeks before "Welcome to the Neighborhood" was to have its premiere, as Disney sought to build church support for "Narnia," four religious groups lifted longtime boycotts of the company that had been largely prompted by Disney's tolerance of periodic gatherings by gay tourists at its theme parks. Representatives for two of those groups now say that broadcasting "Neighborhood" could have complicated their support for "Narnia." One, the Southern Baptist Convention, with more than 16 million members, lifted the last of the boycotts against Disney on June 22, a week before ABC announced it was pulling the series.

When asked to respond to Mr. Kennedy's contention about "Narnia," Kevin Brockman, an ABC spokesman, said, "That's so ludicrous, it doesn't even merit a response." But Mr. Kennedy said he found ABC's stated reasons for canceling the series unconvincing. Although he acknowledged that he had "no smoking gun" to prove the link between "Narnia" and the fate of "Welcome to the Neighborhood," "I don't believe in coincidences," he said.

"Narnia," a joint venture with Walden Media, has gone on to earn almost $600 million since its release last month, on an investment of more than $150 million. "Neighborhood," by contrast, cost an estimated $10 million.

Now, nearly a year after production on "Neighborhood" concluded - and four months after the Wrights moved into the house - the couple, their new neighbors, Mr. Kennedy and another of the show's producers say they remain bewildered by the abrupt turn in the show's fortunes, including the statement by the network, which owns the rights to the series, that it has no plans either to broadcast it or allow it to be sold to another outlet.

The producers say that it is worth noting that a show that exists mainly to dispel people's tendencies to prejudge strangers was itself a victim of prejudgments. They also note that in a universe of failed reality-show relationships, this experiment has actually succeeded, yet only out of public view.

Since September, when the Wrights moved into their four-bedroom home in the Circle C Ranch development in southwest Austin, they have had standing Friday-night dinners with one neighborhood family (the Stewarts) and Sunday-night dinners with another (the Bellamys), whose twin teenage daughters are now their son's regular baby sitters.

Meanwhile, the neighbor who was the Wrights' earliest on-camera antagonist - Jim Stewart, 53, who is heard in an early episode saying, "I would not tolerate a homosexual couple moving into this neighborhood" - has confided to the producers that the series changed him far more than even they were aware.

No one involved in the show, Mr. Stewart said, knew he had a 25-year-old gay son. Only after participating in the series, Mr. Stewart said, was he able to broach his son's sexuality with him for the first time.

"I'd say to ABC, 'Start showing this right now,' " Mr. Stewart said in an interview at his oak kitchen table. "It has a message that needs to be heard by everyone." (Mr. Stewart first discussed his son publicly with The Austin American-Statesman.)

While other ABC shows have gay characters - including the new comedy "Crumbs" - "Neighborhood" features a real gay couple and their prospective neighbors in a continuing dialogue about homosexuality, including interpretations of the Bible.

In a recent interview, Richard Land, an official with the Southern Baptist Convention involved in the negotiations with Disney last year to end the group's boycott of the company, said he did not recall any mention of "Neighborhood." He added, however, that had the show been broadcast - particularly with an ending that showed Christians literally embracing their gay neighbors - it could have scuttled the Southern Baptists' support for "Narnia."

"I would have considered it a retrograde step," Mr. Land said of the network's plans to broadcast the reality series. "Aside from any moral considerations, it would have been a pretty stupid marketing move."

Paul McCusker, a vice president of Focus on the Family, which had supported the Southern Baptist boycott and reaches millions of evangelical listeners through the daily radio broadcasts of Dr. James Dobson, expressed similar views.

"It would have been a huge misstep for Disney to aggressively do things that would disenfranchise the very people they wanted to go see 'Narnia,' " he said.

Asked whether Disney's plans for "Narnia" had affected "Neighborhood," Mr. Brockman of ABC referred a reporter to comments made on July 26 by Stephen McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment, to a gathering of television critics. At that time it was not widely known that a gay couple had won the competition. Instead, Mr. McPherson, a champion of the show until its sudden cancellation, was asked if he had been influenced by criticism by civil rights groups.

"If I stopped airing things just because advocacy groups had issues with it, we would run a test pattern," Mr. McPherson said. Rather, he said, he had begun to worry that some of the neighbors' most intolerant statements early on could confuse the audience's understanding of "the message you were trying to get across."

Hank Cohen, a former president of MGM Television Entertainment, a partner with ABC in "Neighborhood," said no one at the network had given him a direct answer as to what had transpired behind the scenes, and "the lack of any single coherent reason cited by them opens them up to all kinds of conjecture."

The full series, a copy of which was given to The New York Times by an advocate, is often raw, as contestants and judges speak openly about their preconceptions, only to observe in amazement as some of their ideas - though by no means all - melt away. Much of the give-and-take occurs in the series's version of the tribal council on "Survivor," as the three couples charged with giving away the house (bought by ABC for more than $300,000) meet to eliminate one family each episode.

Still, the neighbors' attitudes toward homosexuality constitute the dominant theme. That the tide may be shifting is telegraphed in an all-male scene in a hot tub, of all places, when one neighbor, John Bellamy, observes that Mr. Stewart appears to be softening his views toward gays. "I love you for that," Mr. Bellamy says, before cautioning, "Not in a weird kind of hot-tub love, with no chicks in the hot tub."

For Stephen Wright, who was recruited for the series through his church, which has a predominantly gay membership, the outcome has been bittersweet.

On the one hand, he has yet to achieve his goal of telling his family's story before a big audience. "We opened our souls and the life of our family, and we did it because we thought we could make a difference," he said.

But Mr. Wright said he took solace that through their participation in the series, he and his partner had had a positive impact on at least one relationship, that of Mr. Stewart and his son.

"We said at the outset that if we changed one person's heart or mind, it would be worth it," he said. "We have empirical evidence we did that."

"And," he added, "we won a house."

[bdlucas]

''...dangerous...''
And a doubleplus ungood thoughtcrime as well.

[kiljoy]

Hey dswallow, spoiler alert?

:D

Tony

[beldar]

I just watched a "one year later" news segment about this show (on Advocate Newsmagazine on the LOGO channel). I had missed Doug's posting of the article that revealed that the gay family had won. The story of the anti-gay neighbor with the gay son was moving. After reconciling he appeared in commercials fighting last year's TX anti-gay-marriage amendment, as his way of apologizing to the gay community.

GLAAD eventually saw excerpts of all of the episodes and changed their tune completely, saying that the show was good.

[nedthelab]

Family Research Council = hate group - why is ABC giving them the time of day

[JLucPicard]

Finally, a reality show that an Asian had a decent chance of winning . . . and it gets cancelled.

It's very rare that I will be reading various forums and read something that makes me laugh out loud - but this one did it! Very Funny! :D

[myriadian]

let me guess. you have a judgemental and foolish comment to make about christians.

If he doesn't, I know I do! :)

M.

[myriadian]

Ok, I just read this whole thread and I don't like the premise of the show. Its really repugnant to me to think about 2 good gay men trying to win anything from conservatives. As though the conservatives are our masters or hold undue power over us and we have to please them. That really makes my stomach turn.

I don't care about any of the conservative wackjobs so-called transformations of opinion. Whether their opinions change or not, who cares. They're disgusting ugly people for having such narrow views.

I'm obviously thinking about this very personally but it does make me want to vomit thinking about having to ego-stroke some conservative in order to get to live where I want. What next? In order to eat or have a job?

Bleh. :(

M.

[madscientist]

OI don't care about any of the conservative wackjobs so-called transformations of opinion. Whether their opinions change or not, who cares. They're disgusting ugly people for having such narrow views.Hrm...

[IndyTom]

I don't care about any of the conservative wackjobs so-called transformations of opinion. Whether their opinions change or not, who cares. They're disgusting ugly people for having such narrow views.



Pot - meet Kettle.

[marksman]

While I am not in favor of tv shows being axed for potentially being controversial, I am in favor of them being axed if they are going to suck.

This show had the makings of suck all over it.

Probably better it did get chopped. Saved me 15 minutes of my life.

[bengalfreak]

They're disgusting ugly people for having such narrow views.


Wow, the most narrow minded statement in the thread.

[Jesda]

I hate all people, including you and you. Finally, a TV show that understands me! This could have been a great addition to TGIF.

I hope this makes it to HBO.