ABC cans "Welcome To the Neighborhood"

This morning Drudge ran a red-letter link to this story from the Washington Post:

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "Welcome to the Neighborhood," an ABC reality series that pushes hot buttons of racism and anti-homosexuality, was pulled by the network before its debut.

The program had drawn criticism from groups claiming it risked fostering prejudice.

In a statement Wednesday, ABC acknowledged the delicate nature of the series in which families asked to pick a new neighbor are made to expose and overcome their biases.

"Welcome to the Neighborhood" demonstrates what happens when people are forced to "confront preconceived notions of what makes a good neighbor," the network said.

"However, the fact that true change only happens over time made the episodic nature of this series challenging, and given the sensitivity of the subject matter in early episodes we have decided not to air the series at this time."

The six-episode show, which was to debut July 10, follows three families in Austin, Texas, who are given the chance to choose a new neighbor for a house on their street.

Each family initially wants someone similar to them _ white and conservative.

Instead, they must choose from families that are black, Hispanic and Asian; two gay white men who've adopted a black child; a couple covered in tattoos and piercings; a couple who met at the woman's initiation as a witch; and a poor white family.

In the early episodes, one man makes a crack about the number of children piling out of the Hispanic family's car and displays of affection between the gay men provoke disgust.

Surprise, surprise, surprise - who'd have thought that Hollywood would ever come up with a "reality" show (and I use the term generously) that re-enforces every liberal stereotype about white Bible-belt conservatives!  I mean really.

Michelle Malkin also links this morning to the ever-readable Brian Maloney at Radio Equalizer, who informs us that it was liberal groups who eventually pressured ABC into pulling the show.  Particularly enraged were fair housing advocates, who were horrified at the prospect of neighbors voting to choose their neighbors.

I'm not surprised that conservatives didn't have much to say about this show, since Hollywood functions pretty much as a 24/7 smear machine for anything linked to Christianity, the Republican party, or the South.  Yep - our expectations are that low.   Anyone remember the awful "New Beverly Hillbillies" idea hatched by Les Moonves at CBS?  That insulting bit of trash brought the full fury of Zell Miller, who charged CBS with exploiting "bigotry for big bucks."

If Hollywood wants to give us real alternative entertainment, then why not have Ted Danson re-create his infamous black-face routine for prime-time TV, or maybe do a show about a white, Christian, Republican family from Louisiana moving into an upscale ultra-liberal neighborhood in D.C. or Berkeley?  My intuition tells me that you would find a far higher gross-out factor there than anywhere in Austin.

UPDATE ... or maybe they could show a video of this lovely little spat between Pennsylvania Democrats (h/t again to Michelle Malkin)