How should TV shows manage allegations against central figures? The second season of Cheer drops today, and evidently has taken a bull-by-the-horns approach to the allegations faced by the “breakout star” of its first season, Jerry Harris (Sarah Bahr has a solid explainer of where his cases stand in the Times). That’s probably this sort of show’s best option; other reality shows have gone a different way, with RuPaul’s Drag Race disappearing Sherry Pie to the extent it could, and a recent Below Deck Med season silently reducing the screentime of a deckhand after a racist Instagram post.
And then there’s And Just Like That, which had already killed off Chris Noth’s Mr. Big but had to kill off planned flashbacks as well when numerous women alleged he’d harassed and/or assaulted them.
I guess it depends — on the property; on the allegations in question; on how central to a narrative’s functioning the alleged perpetrator is — but what do you think: engage and confront? or delete and retreat? — SDB
It's a sticky situation, and I am glad these aren't decisions I have to make. A huge problem with capitalism, too, is that when perhaps something should be shelved until more is known about the allegations, outcomes of legal pursuits, etc., investors don't want to wait for a return on their output. So it becomes a messy guessing game. All that said, I'm a fan of brutal honesty, but I acknowledge that there will be collateral damage if they take that route.
Context really matters, I think, and time: there's a difference between making Fatty Arbuckle short films available in an archive and throwing Cosby Show reruns on. The braver option is confrontation - I feel in a documentary-esque series like Cheer that makes more sense, whereas Mr. Big coming back in a flashback being played by John Goodman would be, well, hilarious, but probably better just to let him lie in his fictional grave.
Mostly, I think delete and retreat. Most of these shows aren't going to be able to handle it well and I'd rather just not watch them try. Especially if it's an ensemble group, I don't think others time should get taken away by this.
As for And Just Like That... I especially don't want them touching Chris Noth by making it part of Mr. Big's storyline where Carrie learns the truth of who he was. (If there was a season 2) Because it puts the focus on him and away from the women. But also, I've seen a bit of how they're handling other things and don't want them touching this subject with a twelve foot pole.
It’s a shame that AJLT is not a more dexterous show. I would LOVE to see Carrie realize just how shitty Big was, and how much she contributed to that unhealthy relationship. Put Carrie into high quality therapy and have her work through her issues!! It’s not Big, it’s her! And it’s never too late to grow a little.
I prefer that they acknowledge it at least --even if just in a note. Several "reality" competition shows have been deleted/cancelled due to issues with contestants and I have no idea until I'm googling trying to figure out why a whole season is missing. For some shows like Cheer, Jerry was a huge part of the show and they contributed to that -- I think it's only fair to acknowledge why he would suddenly disappear from the next season. I think there are ways to be "fair" in terms of "this is what we know --which may not be the whole story". And allowing others on the show to say how they were impacted is a part of the larger story as well. I guess I tend to come down on the side of more information in most cases. They don't need to be judge and jury or apologists --this happened, we were shocked by it, we hope the truth comes out and justice is served.
I just reserved "Life is What You Bake It" from the library — this is the baking book from Vallery Lomas. She's the winner of "The Great American Baking Show," but none of us know that because ABC pulled it after one of the judges was hit with a slew of harassment and abuse allegations (https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/14/entertainment/johnny-iuzzini-great-american-baking/index.html). I don't give a shit about baking beyond stuff I must understand for my day job, and reality cooking shows are not my jam, but I am hoping she dives into the show stuff! I will report back. — EB
Oh man I had not heard about the Jerry Harris thing before. No great insights to add to what others have said just ... urgh. An unscripted "reality" show surely has to handle it differently to a scripted comedy/drama ... the latter can edit around and memory hole in a way the former can't, surely. Last Chance U has had several instances of crowd faves ending up in legal trouble and handled it pretty deftly - acknowledging without dwelling - but that show's style is more subtle than Cheer's in general. IDK except I was really looking forward to kicking back with some nice Cheer and now I'm kind of not.
I was pretty shocked to see the notice last week that Cheer is returning, especially since the charges against Jerry are intertwined with his participation in the competitive cheer community.
Also Navarro won last season, so what’s the narrative? We’re not rooting for the underdogs as you would in most sports-related docs.
You can tell a good question by how much I think about it lol.
To add to my previous response -- I think it's also important for us as a society to wrestle with how we contribute to the narrative. Jerry became a breakout star because we (me!) were quick to accept the narrative we were presented by a producer on a TV show.
I think we also need to get more comfortable with the gray areas --which does NOT mean excusing wrongdoing but in accepting that it's possible to be a good swimmer AND a rapist or a nice guy AND a sexual perpetrator. I think that is one reason these types of crimes are under-reported and hard to prosecute. We set people up on a pedestal and refuse to believe any differently and/or once we are forced to confront their wrongdoing, we want to negate everything that went before it. There SHOULD be consequences, and no one should profit from their crimes, but maybe we leave stars in their roles but require their pay to go to the victims. Life is complicated and no one is all good or all bad. That makes these questions really hard to ask.
It's a sticky situation, and I am glad these aren't decisions I have to make. A huge problem with capitalism, too, is that when perhaps something should be shelved until more is known about the allegations, outcomes of legal pursuits, etc., investors don't want to wait for a return on their output. So it becomes a messy guessing game. All that said, I'm a fan of brutal honesty, but I acknowledge that there will be collateral damage if they take that route.
Context really matters, I think, and time: there's a difference between making Fatty Arbuckle short films available in an archive and throwing Cosby Show reruns on. The braver option is confrontation - I feel in a documentary-esque series like Cheer that makes more sense, whereas Mr. Big coming back in a flashback being played by John Goodman would be, well, hilarious, but probably better just to let him lie in his fictional grave.
Mostly, I think delete and retreat. Most of these shows aren't going to be able to handle it well and I'd rather just not watch them try. Especially if it's an ensemble group, I don't think others time should get taken away by this.
As for And Just Like That... I especially don't want them touching Chris Noth by making it part of Mr. Big's storyline where Carrie learns the truth of who he was. (If there was a season 2) Because it puts the focus on him and away from the women. But also, I've seen a bit of how they're handling other things and don't want them touching this subject with a twelve foot pole.
It’s a shame that AJLT is not a more dexterous show. I would LOVE to see Carrie realize just how shitty Big was, and how much she contributed to that unhealthy relationship. Put Carrie into high quality therapy and have her work through her issues!! It’s not Big, it’s her! And it’s never too late to grow a little.
I prefer that they acknowledge it at least --even if just in a note. Several "reality" competition shows have been deleted/cancelled due to issues with contestants and I have no idea until I'm googling trying to figure out why a whole season is missing. For some shows like Cheer, Jerry was a huge part of the show and they contributed to that -- I think it's only fair to acknowledge why he would suddenly disappear from the next season. I think there are ways to be "fair" in terms of "this is what we know --which may not be the whole story". And allowing others on the show to say how they were impacted is a part of the larger story as well. I guess I tend to come down on the side of more information in most cases. They don't need to be judge and jury or apologists --this happened, we were shocked by it, we hope the truth comes out and justice is served.
I just reserved "Life is What You Bake It" from the library — this is the baking book from Vallery Lomas. She's the winner of "The Great American Baking Show," but none of us know that because ABC pulled it after one of the judges was hit with a slew of harassment and abuse allegations (https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/14/entertainment/johnny-iuzzini-great-american-baking/index.html). I don't give a shit about baking beyond stuff I must understand for my day job, and reality cooking shows are not my jam, but I am hoping she dives into the show stuff! I will report back. — EB
Oh man I had not heard about the Jerry Harris thing before. No great insights to add to what others have said just ... urgh. An unscripted "reality" show surely has to handle it differently to a scripted comedy/drama ... the latter can edit around and memory hole in a way the former can't, surely. Last Chance U has had several instances of crowd faves ending up in legal trouble and handled it pretty deftly - acknowledging without dwelling - but that show's style is more subtle than Cheer's in general. IDK except I was really looking forward to kicking back with some nice Cheer and now I'm kind of not.
I was pretty shocked to see the notice last week that Cheer is returning, especially since the charges against Jerry are intertwined with his participation in the competitive cheer community.
Also Navarro won last season, so what’s the narrative? We’re not rooting for the underdogs as you would in most sports-related docs.
You can tell a good question by how much I think about it lol.
To add to my previous response -- I think it's also important for us as a society to wrestle with how we contribute to the narrative. Jerry became a breakout star because we (me!) were quick to accept the narrative we were presented by a producer on a TV show.
I think we also need to get more comfortable with the gray areas --which does NOT mean excusing wrongdoing but in accepting that it's possible to be a good swimmer AND a rapist or a nice guy AND a sexual perpetrator. I think that is one reason these types of crimes are under-reported and hard to prosecute. We set people up on a pedestal and refuse to believe any differently and/or once we are forced to confront their wrongdoing, we want to negate everything that went before it. There SHOULD be consequences, and no one should profit from their crimes, but maybe we leave stars in their roles but require their pay to go to the victims. Life is complicated and no one is all good or all bad. That makes these questions really hard to ask.