I found this to be an interesting blog post made on Yahoo! TV Blog and I thought I would share it with you guys.
The new MTV show "Skins" aired on Monday, January 17 on MTV at 10 P.M. (eastern) and the show is already being looked down upon by both critics and other groups such as the conservative Parents Television Council (PTC). Taco Bell has decided to pull out from future airings of the new series. This show is an adaption of the original BBC series from Britain. Critics and other committees are complaining that the show has shown way too much drug use, sex related scenes and comments, and overall misbehaving teenagers who are being reckless. The show has been rated as TV-MA, meaning that it's meant for the adult viewers, especially because of the time it airs at which is supposed to be a factor that pulls young viewers from watching the show. However, on the night of its premiere, 1.2 million of the 3.3 million viewers who tuned in to watch the pilot were viewers under 18 years of age.
Critics and committees such as PTC have been complaining about other shows and celebrities' actions prior to the premiere of the latest MTV series. They've criticized the racy magazine cover of GQ which featured the young Hollywood stars from the hit show "Glee". Also, they've criticized an episode of the CW's hit show "Gossip Girl" back in 2009 which featured three of the characters in the show engaging in a provocative scene.
Over the weekend I kept on debating whether I would or should watch the premiere of "Skins" and ultimately, I did not. I'm not sure if I will tune in to watch the much-talked about new series, but even if I don't, I know that my actions in life should not be reflected due to a show I watch on TV. Just because I watch a show like this one, it does not mean that I will automatically become the type of person like one of the actors on the show. I watch the show "Gossip Girl" and I've seen pretty racy and provocative scenes throughout the seasons of the show, but I've never been tempted to act nor behave like the characters in the show. I just enjoy watching the show because it allows me to escape from my daily routine for an hour.
What do you guys think about this new series and the reviews by critics and other groups? Have any of you tuned in to watch "Skins"? If so, what did you think of the show? If not, what do you think will happen to the new series? Will it air more episodes or get cancelled? Have you guys watched or are watching shows similar to this one which have been badly criticized? Let me know what you think! :)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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4 comments:
Well, I didn't watch the MTV version of Skins, but I have been watching the BBC (British) version for a while. I think that the show is more suited to British culture, which encourages drinking from a very young age. Drinking is much more rampant in the UK not only because of the lower drinking age, but also because many families drink together. Kids are allowed, from a young age, to drink at the table, to have a sip of their dad's wine, and thus by the time they're 16 they even go off to pubs with their parents. Skins features underage drinking to the extreme, and I think that parents are much less likely to take offense to it in a country such as the UK where drinking is widely accepted.
I think Skins (both the UK and MTV versions) and the idea of Skins is very attractive to young viewers. If our parents won't let us hold our 18th birthday party at a bar, then we want to see people who are allowed to. If we aren't allowed to live by ourselves at the age of 17, then we want to see people who are. Skins is a guilty pleasure show. As you said, Ariana, I don't think it is something that can easily corrupt the minds of previously uncorrupted teens. If our parents were encouraging and promoting Skins-like behavior in their everyday lives, and we grew up thinking that these ideals were good, then maybe things would change. However, in my opinion, watching a racy show like Skins isn't going to turn all teens into wild and untamed alcoholic, sex-crazed, druggies.
In my opinion, the watered-down version made for America television will not last. It's more suited to a society in which drinking is encouraged from a young age, and which partying without abandon is accepted by parents who grew up doing the same thing. I'm by no means saying America is prude and saintly, and England is reckless and full of alcoholics. It's just that in my opinion, the cultural difference of the drinking age makes a show like Skins difficult to translate from English to American television and still be accepted.
-Alice Bebbington
I completely agree with you Alice. If in the UK teens are allowed to start drinking at a young age, then Skins is a suitable show for this nation, but that doesn't mean that it'll be accepted the same way by US viewers, especially since parents have been criticizing this show negatively.
I actually tuned in and watched Skins the night it premiered, and I turned it off after the first commercials started. I believe Skins was merely "overhyped"; all the previews that MTV put on for it, with the clips of teens drinking and partying definitely makes those of us watching MTV curious to see what the show is all about. I haven't seen the British version of the show before, but I've heard from some people that it is way better than the U.S. version. Nonetheless, I'm kind of happy that Skins will not be aired in the future; it sets all the examples for teenagers today for what not to do during their high school lives. Teens are already subject to underage drinking and drug use, so airing a television show promoting all of these factors that we're trying to suppress isn't helping the matter much.
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