Where Did MTV Go Wrong With Skins??

Yeah. We have a feeling that there probably won’t be a second season. Which is probably for the best.
With the exception of the surprisingly thoughtful and well-written fourth episode, we think everyone can agree that the US adaptation of the series Skins has sucked pretty hard, and as proof, last week’s episode garnered less than a million viewers! And although some suggest that the only reason MTV is keeping the show on the air is to reinforce its status as an ‘edgy’ network, it sounds as though the controversy surrounding it isn’t even resonating with their demographic!
Dan Isett, the director of public policy for the Parents Television Council, complains:

“At this point, the only advertising that you see on the show, aside from Clearasil, are movie trailers and various direct marketing type of things. So, there’s virtually no mainline commercial support for this show. There’s no economic reason to keep ‘Skins’ on the air. If I were a Viacom shareholder, I’d be upset that my corporate management is going out of their way to lose me money by putting on this show.”

And TV critic Ben Mandelker continues:

├óΓé¼┼ôQuite frankly├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥no one I know watches ├óΓé¼╦£Skins.’ Absolutely no one is talking about ├óΓé¼╦£Skins├óΓé¼Γäó on the Internet. Maybe in some forum, somewhere, but it├óΓé¼Γäós not being talked about on Vulture, Gawker├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥I├óΓé¼Γäóm not seeing links on Facebook, I├óΓé¼Γäóm not seeing things on Twitter. I forget the show is even on. I don├óΓé¼Γäót even know when it├óΓé¼Γäós on, to be honest. If you├óΓé¼Γäóve seen pictures of this cast, they look sickly. Not only do they look sickly, they actually look their age├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥and they├óΓé¼Γäóre all shirtless. There├óΓé¼Γäós sort of an ├óΓé¼╦£ick├óΓé¼Γäó quality to it. And ‘Skins‘ seems to take itself very, very seriously. Ever since they first started showing ads for it last year, it just didn├óΓé¼Γäót make sense. You just saw all of these wasted, malnourished kids …, and it just wasn├óΓé¼Γäót appealing. It totally misses the mark, whether it├óΓé¼Γäós because it gives you that ├óΓé¼╦£icky├óΓé¼Γäó feeling or because it doesn├óΓé¼Γäót look like a fun show.├óΓé¼┬¥

Ouch! A sad truth, unfortunately.
Perhaps if the network had spent less time trying to make it as controversial as possible, they could have instead focused on writing a series that actually applied – and felt relevant – to American teenagers, which is what the UK series did so well. It took the time to make the characters REAL and honest, and for the most part, we’ve yet to see that in the adaptation.
That’s why we liked the Cassie Cadie episode so much. It took the idea from the original, and modified it to create a very specific, relevant – and touching – statement on our country’s tendency to overmedicate our youth. Unfortunately, the other episodes have yet to make that kind of impact, and we doubt that the ones to come will be able to, either.
Such a shame. It really had so much potential.
What do U think?? Are U still watching Skins??