MTV at it again

Sex, drama, blurred nudity, hookups, more blurred nudity, flights, obscenities, even more blurred nudity…

No, I’m not talking about a new show on HB-HO or Skin-a-max (they don’t blur), I’m talking about a new series that starts next week on MTV… a show that’s been effectively marketed to our kids.

If you happened to watch this year’s MTV Video Music Awards a few weeks ago to get an accurate glimpse into the porthole of pop culture (my two cents on that award show here), then you might have been just as surprised with some of the commercials as the show itself. That Sunday, the world saw the preview for the new MTV series, The Challenge Cutthroat, airing next week on October 6th.

So what will our kids see if they watch this MTV reality series?

Let me stop right there.

First. I’m not a parent who locks my kids in the dungeon only to release them at age 18. I believe in teaching my kids to make good media decisions (I talked about this in detail in my recent article, “To Glee or Not to Glee,” and in my article, “Dad, Can I Download This Song?“). But there are some media decisions I make to protect my kids. One of those is blocking MTV. Yes… I just block it. I find nothing of any value on that channel at all. I’m just doing them a favor.

That being said, I’m always amazed at how many parents allow their kids to watch the shows that MTV continues to offer. I’m not even going to argue the point. I’m simply going to link the “preview” for this new show, The Challenge Cutthroat, and let you decide for yourselves.

WARNING: Even though there is no nudity or language in this clip (yeah, it’s all blurred and bleeped), this is going to really offend some of you. And if it does… good! You should be offended. It’s smutty, suggestive and sexually charged (guys, you might not even want to watch this little preview alone)… and it’s marketed to our kids. I encourage parents to watch it as a couple. (And before you email me or comment on this blog, “Why did you even link that. We don’t need to see that?” Let me just say this. Most of the parents who object to me showing that clip are the same ones who don’t realize that their own kids are watching stuff like that. Argue with me if you want, but I’ve seen it hundreds of times.)

MTV knows that the VMA awards show is THE biggest watched cable show of the year by young people age 12-34, so they always show previews for series like these to build anticipation and create buzz among kids. Years ago Tila Tequila was launched this way and had a HUGE following (6 million total viewers each week- the most watched telecast amoung viewers since The Osbournes). Tila went two seasons, then MTV upped the ante with their show A Double Shot at Love, with two bisexual hotties. Twice as sexy.

Now they’ll do it again with The Challenge Cutthroat.

MTV is about one thing: ratings. And their target market: 12-34 year olds.

Just thought you might wanna know.