July 10, 2007 @ 5:32 pm

BET's "Baldwin Hills" Debuts Tonight

Julianne Shepherd

Email this article Print this article Send us a tip

In case you need a reminder that high school is a grind with a caste system, BET's "Baldwin Hills," a reality show filmed in a docudrama style, debuts tonight at 10 pm EST. We'll cop to not having yet seen the show, but the trailer is addictive. The series depicts the privileged - and pressured - lives of some of Los Angeles's freshest princes and princesses of "Black Beverly Hills " - and contrasts them with the experiences of teens from a less privileged neighborhood around the corner. One such instance involves Gerren, a 16-year-old junior /fashion model whose Italian Vogue and Elle cover shoots led Oprah to deem her "mini-Naomi." Staci, an 18-year-old from Dorsey High School, lives just below Gerren's wealthy neighborhood, but insists she goes through the same things as the rich girls. Then Gerren visualizes her dream whip: "I want pink Gucci linen with pink fur and pink rims." Cut to Staci: "Maybe not," she says, with a slight roll of the eyes. BET's summer programming, kicking off in July, is all about the intricacies of the social experiment. For instance, the new D.L. Hughley-hosted "S.O.B. (Socially Offensive Behavior)," pits normal people in staged situations that play on racial and social stereotypes - all the subtext of "Punk'd" put front and center. Its first episode takes place at a "segregated restaurant," where waitresses separate patrons based on their ethnicities and watches them as they uncomfortably decide whether to eat or bounce. The show also puts a couple of men dressed as "Priests," in a waiting room with two women, who squirm as the men of cloth look at porn - and try to holler at the ladies. It's summed up nicely by one unsuspecting woman, who sets it off on a racially stereotyping pedicurist: "I gotta go before I get a ticket for whooping your ass." The social science goes on with Hell Date (now airing Mon-Fri, 7:30 pm EST), which sends lonely hearts on blind dates with actors playing their worst nightmare, and a Toccara and Joe Clair-hosted reality show called Take The Cake (airing now Mon-Fri, 11 pm EST). Hot Ghetto Mess (Wednesdays beginning July 25, 10 pm EST), hosted by Charlie Murphy, "blends tough love and social commentary challenges and inspires its viewers to improve themselves and their communities... because we've GOT to do better."

Article tags: Baldwin Hills, BET, D.L. Hughley 

Page printed from:
http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2007/07/baldwin_hills/

Return to previous page