IT'S A CELEBRATION...B****ES?

As Reverend Al Green engaged a mutli-generational crowd with his staple "Let's Stay Together, before he received the BET Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, I had feelings of ambiguity. Why you ask? Because as much as I am happy to see a high end production from the BET Awards show, during commercial breaks it's still promoting nothing but it's knock offs of MTV shows like Baldwin Hills and Hell Date. Two shows that show the world, spoiled rotten black kids and a dating show with a midget dressed like the devil. I must admit they slipped in a commercial for their first scripted show called "Somebodies". Was it enough to gather viewers? I don't know. Will it be any good? I really don't know, but at least we can't judge before it's first airing like "Hot Ghetto Mess".

Bob "Nigga Jim" Johnson sold BET and mayb his soul to Viacom for a billion dollars a few years back. With this sale, I've seen nothing, but an upping of production values but not the content. It uses a slicked out package to sell me something that's not good for me. The late publisher, John Johnson started the first black publications of EBONY and JET magazines in the mid 1950's and they are still in business. And throughout the years the JET Beauty of the Week could be the only example of exploitation and that is a stretch. It is great to see all this black talent and Lil' Wayne (that jab is another day, another entry) on the same stage, but I'm concerned. Don't get me wrong, you have to entertain, but just because somebody else does something doesn't mean we have to do it (i.e., "if your friend jumps off a bridge-- I think you know the rest). And I would never say to not be edgy, because as you know we here are fans of THE WIRE, but don't be edgy without a purpose. It has been said by Russell Simmons that he went to BET with Def Jam Comedy first, but they turned him down. HBO picked it up and created a brand, while bringing a generation of comedians to the world, including Chris Tucker, Bernie Mac and Martin Lawrence. Possibly Ed Simon could have gone to BET with the Emmy winning mini-series The Corner and the critcally acclaimed The Wire. Possibly BET would be known as a network of quality programming if they would stop aping the programming of it's MTV mothership under the Viacom umbrella and be original. Quite possibly it may be known as more than MTV Black.

Just because you put crap on china doesn't make it filet mignon. Sadly, BET reminds me of a 90's malt liquor commercial, in how they used rappers to get you to buy their rotgut. Remember Ice Cube, "St. Ides is giving ends!" Since then Cube has learned better as have I and my youthful drinking habits, but BET.... not so much.

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