Critically-Panned ‘Sex Box’ Canceled

WE tv had such high hopes for Sex Box, the show where struggling couples spoke to a counselor in the afterglow of having sex in a soundproof box right on stage.

WE tv’s president Marc Juris called the show “…one of the most unique and compelling show concepts we’ve ever seen…” Critics hated it. Advertisers never showed up. And viewers avoided it like a sticky subway pole.

The New York Times said the show would require you “to repair your relationship with your TV.” A Washington Post critic said the show should be “shot into orbit” or “driven to a storage facility in West Covina and stashed away.”

Protests erupted last summer when WE tv announced the show. The Parent’s Television Council (PTC) got 42,000 parents to complain and warned 200 national advertisers about the show, perhaps the worst British import since One Direction.

After episode one, the show’s single national advertiser — Arm and Hammer — had fled.

After episode three the network moved Sex Box from prime time to a midnight graveyard. A spokesman at the time tried to convince Breitbart News that it was a strategic decision aimed at increasing audience numbers.

With the airing of episode five, the show has been put out of its misery.

PTC Director of Grassroots Advocacy Melissa Henson told Breitbart News, “We came out very strongly even before the show aired. Our concern was the precedent the show would set and that it would encourage imitators.”

PTC President Tim Winter said, “We are delighted to hear that ‘Sex Box’ has been cancelled by WE tv. The program from its very outset was an affront to families, toxic to advertisers, and a clear demonstration of a badly-broken business model that forces every cable/satellite subscriber to pay for unwanted and unwatched cable networks.”

In a statement released yesterday, WE tv called the show “…a bold programming swing that broke new ground but did not connect with large numbers of viewers.” The network vowed to bring the show back in a new format. No doubt Parent’s Television Council will have their DVRs ready to go.

Follow Austin Ruse on Twitter @austinruse