often at The Daily Iberian.
Many times we get things that have nothing to do with the Teche Area, so it goes into the “round file” or to be recycled. Then there are the silly things like some public relations firms sending us things like ABC’s television division looking for people to participate in its “Wife Swap” reality show.
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The family ABC is looking for is a group of Mardi Gras fanatics. Now, it is not likely that they would even consider a family from New Iberia or St. Martinville or Franklin. They want a New Orleans family. That way, the crew gets to film in midst of the decadence of that city.
The Teche Area has its Mardi Gras and it does have its share of adult beverage consumption and revelry. But what it doesn’t have is the lewdness and such as in some places of New Orleans.
I remember a story CBS News did from New Orleans years ago. They followed this family from the Midwest as they took in the sights. The family was pitched as the average, God-fearing American family that had never been to New Orleans, much less Mardi Gras there.
Film footage showed women in the crowd exposing their undergarments for beads and other throws. The premise, however, appeared to be how long would it take for the family’s mother to expose her topside for a plastic trinket. Of course the report would not have been complete until she did, with husband standing near the TV reporter, smiling all the while.
That just isn’t Mardi Gras in small-town South Louisiana, and it’s not as potentially entertaining.
Actually, there are many Mardi Gras parades in and around New Orleans where families don’t have to worry about lewd behavior, but those family-friendly areas are not likely to be filmed much on a show like this.
I can almost see the teasers for this show, complete with computer-distorted video to hide the nudity.
Maybe I’m being a bit of a prude, but based on national interpretation of Mardi Gras in South Louisiana, you would swear we all ran around naked and intoxicated from late January until we crawl into church on Ash Wednesday.
Oh, one incentive that ABC is offering that might entice folks here is that if you suggest a family and they end up being used in the show, ABC claims you could be paid $1,000.
The press release from ABC does not say when the show will air, but I’m sure those teasers will be on televisions and Internet sites soon enough.
JEFF ZERINGUE is managing editor of The Daily Iberian. He can be reached at iberianedit@bellsouth.net.
Comments
Etienne Baptiste wrote on Sep 4, 2009 9:36 AM:
The correct way to desensitize the American television public is to slowly introduce lasciviousness over time, gradually increasing the lewdness as societies mores and values adapt to changes. From no nudity, blurred or otherwise, to blurred nudity, to por_nography is a few short steps and only a few years away. No wonder decent families monitor or restrict access to television. "