There were rumors before about a Michael Vick reality show, but today, some concrete details have emerged. It’s not a reality series, but a documentary series (I suppose there’s a difference), scheduled to air on BET in 2010. From the LA Times:
The tone of Vick’s show, say producers, will be serious and somber as it focuses on his personal struggles since his release, including the strains on his relationships with his fiancée, Kijafa Frink, and his children. It will also revisit the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan., where Vick spent 1 1/2 years behind bars and the Virginia property where he ran and financed a dogfighting ring.
“This show can be a blueprint for so many kids,” he said. “I want to show them that things are going to happen, that they’re not going to get through life without dealing with some kind of adversity. I want to show that if they have a fall from grace, this is how they can turn it around. We want this to be a story of hope.”
I’m intrigued. I’m in. I’ll set my DVR for this. I wonder about two things, though.
First, exactly what is the blueprint for being able to deal with adversity? Screw up, go to jail, get out, and then rely on your enormous athletic ability to get the Philadelphia Eagles to give you a million dollars?
Because I don’t know if that’s a path that’s available to everyone. Most ex-cons won’t sell a lot of jerseys with their name on the back of them, or have 70,000 people cheering for them as they make scrambled eggs for a drunk guy at Denny’s.
My other concern is that the truth won’t be as much of a focus as will the Michael Vick(notes) PR effort. Obviously, I expect some of the purpose here is to make Vick look good, but I hope that doesn’t come at the expense of the real, disgusting truth of what he did.
Michael Vick to be subject of BET documentary series – Shutdown Corner – NFL – Yahoo! Sports.
