Care for something to eat?
A&E—once a high-falutin' cable network devoted to, well, Arts and Entertainment—has gradually evolved into a channel where you can sit back and watch in horror as crazy people get their high-gloss freak on. You know, their drinkin' freak or their druggin' freak or their hoardin' old garbage freak or their combing the rugs tassels so they're perfectly even freak. With its stable of slickly-produced, somber shows about people whose lives are on a precarious brink—Intervention, Hoarders, Obsessed, Steven Seagal: Lawman—the net has become the go-to destination for elegant freak shows. And lots of you are tuning in!
The network hit a ratings high on Monday night, with the season premiere of Hoarders bringing in more viewers than any A&E season opener in history. The eighth-season premiere of Intervention fared well too. So yay for A&E (and shudder for all the poor people on their shows). The only trouble with their winning show model? The crazy train has to roll to a halt somewhere, doesn't it? I mean, how many different kinds of sad, manic people can there be in this rotten country of ours? Well, actually, probably a lot.
So we're wondering this dreary afternoon the same thing a bunch of programming execs are likely desperately wondering too: What should A&E's next crazy-people show be about? Nymphomaniacs? Paranoids? Nail Biters? Give us your best suggestions below.
Comments (11)
IF A&E stuck to strictly Arts and Entertainment, the only people who would be interested in watching are those snobs who claim they never watch TV anyway.
@marylaxmi - hey, i thought she was being NICE. if this were the real world the whole show would have to be bleeped. Not everyone is chirpy like Heidi or orangey & Korsy & cute-as-buttons out there.
I disagree with the contention that folks that watch "Hoarders" or "Intervention" are disordered or that having a curiosity or a desire to understand human nature better is a bad thing. I do think that the producers who do these shows have to walk a fine line between exploitation and assistance. A&E so far has done an okay job, at least on the episodes I've seen at not trivializing these disorders and addictions and trying to approach the subject matter with some responsibility. I cannot say that about the sister network, Bravo, about their new show, Launch My Line. I thought the comments of Lisa Klein were destructive, concerning the designers clothing they came up with for the debute show.
Maybe a show about crazy blog commenters... you know, the ones who basically live on gawker, awl, etc.
nothing like preying on people who really need help, wave some money in their face, and convince them it's all for 'their' benefit.
"A&E, We're As Awful as the People We Put On the Air!" That's their new slogan. Catchy, ain't it? I'd like to see them put the cast of "Gossip Girl" in a house with the Old Navy mannequins for a month to finally see if there's a difference. Or... rappin' grannies who run a motorcycle garage by day, hunt ghosts by night. I'd watch.
A&E Should buy guns and shoot themselves. They used to be a fairly respectable network that must've been bought by Jerry Springer because now they are the lowest network on television. They do nothing but show the lowest form of American, and make them celebrities. What kind of sorry excuses for humans actually watch that channel?
so true... but Obsessed is actually really good. Hoarders is okay. and I'm a nail-biter and I need to stop, so if they do a show, i will apply!!!
Nymphomaniacs would be my next choice.
What I wish is that they'd put that kind of intervention effort behind people who are homeless. Barring that, though, maybe a show about the passive-aggressive: "Are you okay? I was worried, because I was expecting that you'd watch my show."
Intervention sucks me in even though I don't really want to watch. It IS compelling television. I always feel like I'm the one who did one line or had one drink or took one pill too many by the time it's over.Hoarders does not suck me in the same way. It makes me want to turn off the TV and purge a closet.