In a year when a “balloon boy” became a media sensation, it is bizarre that some networks are thinking about giving more credibility to reality show contestant wannabes. The Salahis, the other high-profile “celebrity” couple that seemed more interested in gaining publicity and fame than following the law, are getting even more attention because of the party they crashed several weeks ago at the White House. The network Bravo has seemingly furthered their careers by polling people about giving the party crashers their own show. These are the uninvited guests who, after invading the White House party, want to invade your living room.
The Washington Post recently reported on the Bravo poll that gave the Salahis the spotlight once again. The article noted that Bravo “decided to poll viewers for their thoughts on Michaele and Tareq Salahi. This included asking whether you’d think less of Bravo if it gave the Salahis their own reality series.” The Post article noted that “the poll, which was being conducted by Research Results — a company that says it’s affiliated with NBC Universal” asked repondents if “it would be in poor taste to give them [the Salahis] their own reality show. ” The answer to that question seems obvious. The Salahis got publicity for breaking into a White House party. If that activity helps to earn them a reality show, that will only lead to future White House incursions by publicity-hungry celebrity wannabes.
Sadly, the Salahis are no stranger to either Bravo or the reality show universe. According to a New York Times article from November, the Salahis were already being filmed because they might be added to another reality show. According to that article, Bravo had “confirmed that Michaele Salahi was being seriously considered for the coming series ‘The Real Housewives of D.C.'” However, the recent Bravo poll suggests to some that the Salahis are being considered for more than just a supporting role on a reality program. As an article from the New York Post noted, one of the questions in the poll, that attempts to gauge people’s thoughts about the network if they gave the couple their own show, “suggests that somewhere within the NBCU wheelhouse, someone is contemplating giving the fame-seeking duo a shot at their own TV show.”
The reasons not to include the Salahis on their schedule should be obvious to Bravo and it seems like it may have been evident to some of the folks behind the poll. The Post article noted that the poll was “yanked since word of it got out to the press Wednesday morning.” Someone at Bravo or working on the poll must have realized the amount of bad publicity that the network could get for conducting a survey about whether White House party crashers should get their own show.
The Salahis are famous for the wrong reasons – not for what they did right or the careers that they took time building. They are famous for what they did wrong: crashing a White House party, and that should not get them more air time. Plus, the Salahis already have a guest appearence scheduled that should get them a lot of media coverage. The Post article stated that the infamous couple “are already the stars of a federal investigation and a Congressional committee wants to meet them too, voting to subpoena them for a Jan. 20 hearing, although, sadly, their reps have said they’ll take the Fifth at that bash.” How ironic. The one time they actually get invitations to appear and they don’t want to say anything. (Unless of course, Vice President Joe Biden shows up and then the Salahis would probably want to take a picture with him.)
I hope that in pulling the plug on the poll, Bravo also decided against giving this couple any more publicity by not puttting them on their own reality show. I am also hoping the network realizes that the actions of the Salahis should not give them a career boost. If the network decides against putting the Salahis on their own show and rejecting them from “Housewives,” I would say “bravo.”