Reader Siddiq Bello pointed out a social phenomena that I'm admittedly not aware of: the VH1 show Flavor of Love, in which rapper Flavor Flav from Public Enemy fame hosts a competition from 20 women, similar to The Bachelor to get his attention and his love.
The show is done completely tongue-in-cheek, with contestants receiving Flav's signature big clock necklaces instead of a rose if he decides to keep them with him on every episode. Contestants will have to endure a lie detector test for the potential Flav loves, among many other obstacles. This will all be to help "weed out" those who are not true in their love of Flav and who might just be gold-diggers (and they might not be satisfied with just a set of gold teeth).
The show started airing about a week ago amid avid fan response. Not only does this carry the crowd who enjoys parody of the reality television genre, but it also brings with it fans of Public Enemy's, melding the reality television competition genre with the reality television celebrity genre and by building in the music television audience and African-Americans in the target 18-49 demographic.
So far, it seems that the 10-episode run is garnering significant attention. The show has created a stir in the blogosphere among fans and on message boards. It has also launched on YouTube already as well.
With a significant degree of social energy behind the program, it will be interesting to see if the second season sustains popularity to launch other future series of the genre. And it seems that VH1 has found its niche in this celebrity reality programming, even while appealing to different audiences from series to series (such as Hogan Knows Best).
