Why cancel a reality show just because one of the stars is a murder suspect?
Murder suspect Ryan Jenkins was found dead today. Don't worry if you don't know who he is. I only know because he was a contestant on a reality show I was watching called "Megan Wants a Millionaire." Megan has been on at least 3 other reality shows and she's best known for one of the most amazing bodies God has seen fit to grace this earth, and it appears to be 100% natural.
Megan has passed herself off on these reality shows as a gold digger. To play along, she has even claimed to blow all her prize money from the shows. In reality she's a smart accountant that has put her winnings toward her mortgage. But the dumb blonde that wants to be a trophy wife act has made her very popular for television. And VH1 was cashing in on that by giving her a reality show in which she gets to choose from 19 millionaires competing for her. It was fun to watch just to see the staggeringly expensive gifts she was being given by the men. She regularly got jewels from Tiffanys, expensive clothes and one man even gave her an $8,000 gift certificate for a combination spa and plastic surgery office.
One of the millionaire finalists in the show is a suspect in the murder of his model ex wife. And surprisingly, VH1 has canceled Megan wants a Millionaire as a result. They just pulled it off the air mid-season. What I'm wondering is...why? It's already done filming and they have paid for the show. Doesn't this kind of news coverage of one of the contestants pretty much guarantee huge ratings? Or is the network more concerned about looking unfeeling toward the family of the murdered woman by cashing in on the suspect's appearance on the show? The suspect also appeared on a new season of another reality show ("I Love Money") which never aired, and they were planning to air it but pulling the plug now because this guy in the show is a dead murder suspect. Why? What would be the purpose behind pulling the plug on shows in which a murder suspect appears?
Megan has passed herself off on these reality shows as a gold digger. To play along, she has even claimed to blow all her prize money from the shows. In reality she's a smart accountant that has put her winnings toward her mortgage. But the dumb blonde that wants to be a trophy wife act has made her very popular for television. And VH1 was cashing in on that by giving her a reality show in which she gets to choose from 19 millionaires competing for her. It was fun to watch just to see the staggeringly expensive gifts she was being given by the men. She regularly got jewels from Tiffanys, expensive clothes and one man even gave her an $8,000 gift certificate for a combination spa and plastic surgery office.
One of the millionaire finalists in the show is a suspect in the murder of his model ex wife. And surprisingly, VH1 has canceled Megan wants a Millionaire as a result. They just pulled it off the air mid-season. What I'm wondering is...why? It's already done filming and they have paid for the show. Doesn't this kind of news coverage of one of the contestants pretty much guarantee huge ratings? Or is the network more concerned about looking unfeeling toward the family of the murdered woman by cashing in on the suspect's appearance on the show? The suspect also appeared on a new season of another reality show ("I Love Money") which never aired, and they were planning to air it but pulling the plug now because this guy in the show is a dead murder suspect. Why? What would be the purpose behind pulling the plug on shows in which a murder suspect appears?
Examples:
"Shame on you for continuing a show that glorified a murderer!"
"Our family is in grief over his death, and you run the show and disrespect him - and cause more attention to be drawn to it!"
"We at VH1 have deep pockets, which are readily sued by crazy Americans looking to sue us for crazy reasons. If we pull the plug, you crazy Americans have less of a reason to find a crazy reason to sue us!"
Another reason is, the dead guy is only a *suspect*... suppose he really didn't do it? And someone else is out there getting away with it. On one hand, the public exposure of it all could sway juries, or create judgements in people's minds. VH1 probably doesn't want to deal with any of that B.S. so they can say "hey, we stopped this!" if any fingers are casted in their direction. It's really for their own reputation or safety that they pull it.
I know the saying, "Any publicity is good publicity," but there is a limit where that is no longer true and to the networks credit, they exercised good judgement here and realized that.
One last thought: Don't forget the netwwork stays in business through ads. Would you want to be the advertiser known for having their commercials run "on that show where that guy killed his girlfriend."
I doubt they would get ANY advertisers if they ran the show. What company would want their product associated with this event? Not to mention the potential for public boycotts of any advertiser foolish enough to buy ad space in the show.
Not running either show with that murder suspect is really the only viable business choice here.
Re: natural + bad journalism