Senator unhappy with 'Buckwild'

You cannot buy publicity like this.

MTV, preparing for the departure of its cash cow, 'Jersey Shore,' has a new series coming early in 2013 that it hopes will fill the trashy programing hole. The series, 'Buckwild,' is described as the Jersey Shore of Appalachia (as well as "Jersey Shore meets Honey Boo Boo by ABC News). 

Senator Joe Manchin III, a Democrat from West Virginia, has written a letter to MTV President Stephen Friedman asking him to "put a stop to the travesty called Buckwild."

You see, 'Buckwild' tapes in Sissonville, West Virginia, and follows its nine twenty-something cast members "mudding," using a dump truck for a pool party (what?) and creating a human slingshot. The cast members are six women and three men who have been friends since childhood. This sounds more like 'Jackass' meets 'Jersey Shore' than anything else, to me. Somehow, Senator Manchin does not find this as an appealing way to portray West Virginia.

“As a U.S. senator, I am repulsed at this business venture, where some Americans are making money off of the poor decisions of our youth,” he wrote. “I cannot imagine that anyone who loves this country would feel proud profiting off Buckwild. Instead of showcasing the beauty of our people and our state, you preyed on young people, coaxed them into displaying shameful behavior – and now you are profiting from it. That is just wrong.”

I'm sure that will cause MTV to reverse course and cancel the series.