CBS To Run Arranged-Marriage Reality Series

[RandySF]

http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/02/cbs-picks-up-arrangedmarriage-series.html

"CBS is treading into potentially controversial reality TV territory again.

The network has ordered a new series from the producers of "Top Chef" that puts lovelorn singles into arranged marriages.

The show introduces four adults age approximately 25-45 who are anxious to get married but have been unsuccessful in their search for a mate. Their friends and family select a spouse for them, and the newly paired couple exchange marital vows. The series follows their marriages.

The rest of the details for the project, whose early working title is "Arranged Marriage," are being kept under wraps.

The series is from Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth of Magical Elves, which launched "Project Runway" on Bravo and produces the network's "Top Chef."

It is the second series greenlighted by CBS' new reality chief Jennifer Bresnan, following the recent order for "Block Party," a competition among neighboring families."

[Maru Kitteh]

1. Sexploitation, it's not just for beer and razors anymore.

[DearAbby]

2. Marriage is sacred...

so sacred, lets make a tv show about paring up strangers for our amusment! :eyes:

[nichomachus]

4. God -- I hope you meant

"pairing"

Pare: 1 : to trim off an outside, excess, or irregular part of <pare apples> <paring his nails>

[nichomachus]

3. Well, this certainly promotes the "sanctity of marriage"

[MineralMan]

5. Maybe they could get the Moonies involved

and have a mass arranged wedding.

[lisa58]

6. that's just stupid

[nichomachus]

7. As opposed to all the other brilliant "reality shows?" n/t

[ThomWV]

8. I have known two couples who were the result of arranged marriages - both worked out well

In both cases they were Indian couples and about my age, which is to say 50s or 60s. I actually asked, as politely as possible, just how they felt about arranged marriages and did they in fact work out OK. Pretty blunt I guess. Anyway both of the men (never asked their wives because I would have felt uncomfortable asking) told me that over time they had come to really love their wives and that their marriages were happy. Was that typical for arranged marriages in this country? I have no idea.

[kestrel91316]

9. You know, something tells me it's gonna be pointless to fix or replace my

brand new but nonfunctional HD converter box. There is SOOOO little on tv anymore that doesn't make me feel like I am living inside that movie "Idiocracy".

[Harry Monroe]

23. Ow, My Balls!!

Coming to a network near you in the year 2505.

[liberal N proud]

10. Oh yey, another REALITY based farce

:puke:

[Bunny]

11. And gays *still* aren't allowed to get married.

Gays that actually know each other, and have spent time (even many years) together in loving, caring, committed relationships, and still they are unable to be legally wed.

This is truly messed up.

[Marrah_G]

12. WTF?

[MindPilot]

13. It is the cheap formulaic network crap like this that makes cable worth every penny.

:puke:

[book_worm]

14. yet another "reality" series--the networks have given up on trying to do good (or even bad) scripted

television in favor of reality junk that is cheaper to produce and cheapen our air waves.

[Ian David]

15. This is stupid. How about CELEBRITY Arranged Marriage? Where the public gets to vote?

I want to make Ann Coulter marry Richard Lewis!

[MindPilot]

17. You must REALLY hate Richard Lewis! n/t

[Ian David]

20. Not at all. But I think Ben Stein would enjoy it too much. Ooh! Ooh! Lewis Black! Lewis Black!

He would make Ann Coulter more miserable than anyone else possibly could!

Only problem is, I can't think of a Liberal Jewish celebrity I dislike enough for them to deserve Ann Coulter...

However, I can think of plenty of Liberal Jewish celebrities who would do a fine job of making Ann Coulter miserable.

And I think Lewis Black wins!

[mainer]

16. Excuse me for the alternative viewpoint. But I think it's brilliant.

I betcha it will garner a huge audience, too. Hits all the public's buttons -- sex, love, suspense. As it is, marriages based on "love" fail way too often. I can't see how this could be much worse, assuming that the friends and families who make the selections have their loved ones' interests (and tastes) completely in mind.

[Ian David]

21. Pimp My Daughter. Extreme Make-Over Marriage Edition. This Old Spinstress. n/t

[XemaSab]

18. Didn't FOX do that 10 years ago?

:shrug::hide:

[ColbertWatcher]

19. Heterosexuality at any cost!

What a joke.

[Yavin4]

22. While This Show Is Definitely Cheap and Exploitative, Arranged Marriages May Not Be All That Bad

Look, when they're done right, what's so wrong about arranged marriages. Now, I'm not talking about arranging for a child to marry an adult. I'm talking about families arranging for your marriage.

Can it be any worse or better than finding the right mate on your own?