June 25th kicked off what will easily be remembered as the Jackson Family Summer, no doubt. You want Jackson news, no prob. Just click over to CNN, Fox News, ET, The Insider, et al and take your fill. Hell, take some and share with your friends and coworkers. There’s plenty to go around. But for A&E, that may or not be good news concerning their planned Jacksons reality TV series that was shot prior to Michael’s death. The show was previously commissioned to chronicle the surviving Jackson brothers’ various exploits as they prepared for a new album and tour, as well as their individual lives as husbands, fathers, entrepreneurs (to say nothing of general failures, entitlement junkies and Jacko hangers on).
Tentatively titled The Jackson Family, the concept now faces a future that could be either bolstered or outright killed by the current goings-on with the family that are playing out daily. “We have started discussing internally and with the family but have
not yet decided what direction to take with the show,” said A&E
executives, in a statement. “We are respecting the family’s wishes
right now, and at the appropriate time we will all decide what
direction this program to take, so stay tuned.”
On the one hand, the demand for this project just shot into the stratosphere. On the other, come the fall or later, the public could have had so much of the Jackson Family and the drama that’s continually unfolding with Michael’s estate, his kids, his ex-wife, his mom, etc., that even die hard Jacko fans might just moonwalk away from the show faster than Papa Joe would exploit the nearest handy grandchild. It’s actually a surprise to me that the Jacksons, who by varying accounts are anywhere between skid row and the nearest rented penthouse, haven’t surfed the reality wave years before this. Considering all of the secrets revealed about their family over the years, the abuse, the lavish lifestyles and overspending, to near bankruptcy for nearly all of them, this stuff is why God created Reality TV. In the grand scheme, it makes the John & Kate or Hogan Knows Best meltdowns look like Sesame Street.