CHICAGO - VH1 KILLS BOTH REALITY SHOWS FEATURING KILLER

VH1 KILLS BOTH REALITY SHOWS FEATURING KILLER

VH1 confirmed Monday that it will not air either one of the two reality shows on which Ryan Jenkins, the man accused of killing his ex-wife, then taking his own life, appeared. The cable network said Monday that both Megan Wants a Millionaire and I Love Money 3 had been canceled. (Jenkins reportedly told friends that he had won $250,000 on Money .) It did not disclose how much of a financial hit it would sustain as a result of shelving the programs. The decision did not sit well with viewers, who vented their frustration on VH1's blogs. "OK," said one message writer, "that Ryan guy killed his wife, but it would just make the show all that more intresting [sic]." Meanwhile, in his column today (Tuesday), Chicago Sun-Times TV columnist/critic Richard Roeper takes the news media to task for referring to Jenkins as a "star" in their coverage of the murder and Jenkins's subsequent flight. "Let's be realistic," Roeper writes. "Ryan Jenkins wasn't the 'star' of anything in this world. He was a messed-up guy who filmed a couple of reality shows, only three episodes of which ever saw the light of day." But Roeper says he is not surprised that Jenkins was chosen to appear on the VH1 shows. "The worst shows in the genre seek out the trashiest, most tasteless, most narcissistic goofballs on the planet -- and then they encourage those people to act the fool while the cameras are rolling, because confrontations, meltdowns, binges and appallingly antisocial behavior often translate into a ratings bonanza."

25/08/2009