Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Thursday urged Viacom President and CEO Robert Bakish to reformulate a planned reality series based in West Virginia that he says is based on “vicious stereotypes.”
Viacom is working on a new show, set in cities throughout the state and scheduled for a summer launch, that is “described as a comedic follow-doc about a group of hard-working and fearless teens and twenty-somethings,” according to Deadline Hollywood.
The show is a sequel to “Buckwild,” another West Virginia series that ended after one of the characters died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.
Manchin said he has seen the trailer for the new show and wants Bakish to scrap the show and replace it with one “that does not play into vicious stereotypes,” about West Virginia.
Manchin cited the opioid epidemic and drug overdose rate which he said is the highest in the nation.
“After watching the trailer for ‘West Virginia Wilder,’ I feel compelled to speak up on behalf of West Virginia and West Virginians out of a deep sense of concern,” Manchin wrote to Bakish. “I believe that you can make a compelling show about the people of West Virginia that does not play into vicious stereotypes, and I stand ready to help you do just that. I invite you and the entire production team to join me for a tour of my home state and the people I’m proud to call my friends and family from the southern coalfields to the Potomac Highlands and everywhere in between.”
A Viacom spokesman contacted the Washington Examiner and said MTV, which aired Buckwild, does not plan to air the new series. But according to Deadline Hollywood, the program “is being pitched to cable networks and digital platforms with an eye toward a summer launch.”
Manchin offered to take the production team whitewater rafting, hiking or to one of the many state festivals.
“Visit our Strawberry Festival in the spring or our Buckwheat Festival in the fall,” Manchin wrote. “My neighbors will share our famous pepperoni rolls and teach you to cheer on our Mountaineers. Our Thundering Herd will remind you of the resiliency of the human spirit and show you just how strong West Virginians really are.”
The trailer for the show can be viewed here.
