After Michael Jackson’s tragic death rumors abound that there were a few projects featuring his nearest and dearest in the works. One of them, a reality show, revoloved around Joe, Katherine and the entire Jackson clan, while the other was an A&E documentary which was supposed to chronicle the rest of the Jackson brother’s as they prepared for their reunion tour. (They wanted to do it for their 40th anniversary later this year). Both were supposedly already shot. Well it should come as no surprise that A&E has decided to turn its documentary into a full-fledged series. The Los Angeles Times reports that the documentary footage will serve as the pilot episode.
While it seems that everyone is coming out of the woodwork to profit from the untimely and unnecessary death of an icon, I’ve got to say that I’m a bit relieved that Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy will at least have a viable revenue stream. They were clearly struggling. I wrote several times about their attempts to get this Reunion Tour off the ground while Michael was still alive. (He didn’t seem to be thrilled about the prospect and didn’t participate in the documentary either). Now, they’ll get unprecedented support and sold-out performances and I’m certain they’ll do some sort of posthumous tribute. And this show will give them more publicity than they could of hoped for (but I’m sure they’d trade it all to have MJ back).
But since we’ve been privy to MJ’s wishes for estate, it is obvious that he made no provisions for his siblings. And they, of course, have to eat. The only thing that makes me uncomfortable is the producer’s decision to include the family’s reaction to the King of Pop’s death. Although the documentary had wrapped, they resumed shooting recently to incorporate how the family is coping. I guess it’s necessary but it feels….wrong.
I can say, however, I will probably break my no-reality show rule and tune in.
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