The Flavor of Love Quadrupled: Women and Reality TV

It all started with a then-new VH-1 show called "The Surreal Life" where different entertainers whom at their prime, were B or C-list celebrities, usually with a limited body of work and mediocre talent live together in one house for so many days. In the original cast was Brigitte Nielsen, the 6'2 Danish actress better known for starring in the 1985 flick "Red Sonya" and being married to Sylvester Stallone; and William Drayton, known to the world as Flava Flav - the hype man for New York-based rap act Public Enemy. At their peak, the group known for hits like "Fight the Power" and "911 is a Joke" was controversial (this was a few years before the West Coast rap scene emerged as we know it) for their image and lyrics which promoted empowerment and justice in the Black community.

Though in the nineties, Nielsen was known best for being Stallone's ex and the only news Flav made was as a repeat offender with charges ranging from domestic violence to possession of narcotics to unpaid parking tickets

As most of the participants on "The Surreal Life see the appearance as an opportunity to get paid and get their name back out there, even if for minute, few would have guessed that several sequels would come out of such an unusual pairing of two personalities who seemed to go together as well as lobster and Pop Rocks. Shortly after the season one finale of "The Surreal Life", "Strange Love" took viewers through the Brigitte/Flav courtship process and the end result was Bridgitte would make plans to marry another and this would start a second set of sequels called "Flavor of Love 1 and 2" which made a minor celebrity of Tiffany Pollard, the contestant known best to the world as Miss New York. "I Love New York" flipped the script where twenty males competed for the affection of the show's twice-rejected namesake. While New York, with her gaudy eye makeup, ever-changing wigs and occasionally razor-sharp tongue would make an interesting supporting character on a sitcom, it just made it that much easier to see that the contestants were there just to get on television. Most were aspiring actors, vocalists and others looking to plug some product or another, a couple were just psychotic beyond belief (Don't most reality shows give an psychological assessment that determines whether or not you can hang in there without coming apart at the seams? As an animal lover, watching someone who borders on bestiality when showing a dog a little attention is a creepy like hell.) and the rest were forgettable characters just passing through.

Now the thrice-pushed 'let's approve a sequel' button at VH-1 must have been on stuck when it chose to bring us "Flavor of Love Girls (hello, one of them is in her late thirties):Charm School". This installment has the more memorable characters from both Season 1 and 2 of FOL (At the time of this writing, New York makes a cameo appearance). Along for the ride this time as judges are Beauty Director and Cover Editor for Essence magazine, Mikki Taylor, the Director for the Miss USA/Miss Teen USA franchise Keith Lewis (while he is a decent 'Simon' with his deadpan putdowns, I think "judge" Janice Dickinson, with her always acidic tongue, would have been the consistent comic relief) and actress/comedienne Mo'Nique, who is "there to bring some class and elegance" to the girlsas well as host. Rarely do comedy and etiquette go together yet I am no one to say otherwise. Aside from starring in the long running sitcom, "The Parkers", a few supporting roles in films and her stand-up routine - which promotes the acceptance of the full-figured woman but also contains horrifically graphic accounts of her sexual escapes, I never would have thought of her as a specialist in grace. Though the women seem to have a little more personality than the males on ILNY; maybe a couple have problems that are better handled by a health professional than someone in entertainment or media. The routine is the same as far the challenge and elimination process goes and the last one standing receives $50,000 to go towards their aspirations.

The entire FOL series has come under fire from Black activists as well as women's right groups for being degrading to both the Black community and misogynist. On the other hand, it has been named the highest rated show in VH-1's history and it has made minor (more like F list) celebrities out of a few. Though Flav had the smarts give himself producing credits for FOL 1 and 2, it did not help the sales or air play of his debut solo CD released last fall. This is not a complete surprise as today's popular music tends to be geared toward an audience that seems to get younger by the minute - It would have been the coup of 2006 if the 47-year-old grandfather could have resurrected a rap career that has been dormant for nearly 15 years.

It seems that VH-1 has rid itself of the nickname "MTV for people over 30". Unless you are up at 3AM and in the mood to watch music videos that don't feature a rap artist (unless they have a cameo with someone who's mainstream), it is easy to forget that they were once a music-only channel. Only if you have digital cable can you see repeat episodes of "Behind the Music" or rare concert footage. Some of their let's-poke-fun-at pop culture and celebrities in general make good subjects for trivia games as well as "Best Week Ever" or "I Love the 70s/80s/90s series". The rest are copycat programs you can see on the E! Network and how much can one really talk about Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears (or her supporting cast of characters). It seems that this channel is running out of steam when it comes to re-heating the careers of has-been celebrities and those who want to believe they are such but don't have the talent to back it up halfway. Whatever VH-1 should decide to morph into next, please don't air shows from the 70s we can see on TVLand when we're bored and don't feel like leaving the house.