MVP: The Death of a Guilty Pleasure

March 13th, 2008

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CBC has gone and done something awful: canceled MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives. This NHL primetime soap was the guiltiest of pleasures and now I’m coming out of the woodwork to show my MVP pride – but sadly it’s all for naught. The 10th and final episode aired this week.

The most ironic thing about this cancellation seems to be that the show’s success hinged on the success of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Toronto Star reports:

The producer of MVP says she was recently warned by CBC programming director Kirstine Layfield that if the Leafs failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, the public broadcaster’s arts and entertainment division would take a $10-million hit that would put some of the network’s much-heralded new shows at risk.

This is the most idiotic concept – I suggest CBC reassesses their funding strategies and, while they’re at it, also their scheduling strategies. Obviously any show pitted against the ratings juggernaut that is American Idol will not do that well.

And to be honest, creatively, MVP had a rocky start to begin with. Being a huge fan of the BBC’s Footballers’ Wive$, I was expecting MVP to be the Canadian counterpart, to be as glossy and provocative and outrageous; unfortunately, MVP started out a little tame, but in the past few episodes I have fully understood its potential. And its fun. The writers finally pulled out all the stops to create their own ridiculous outrageousness. Who could not enjoy psychotic stalkers, arson, infidelity, drug-addicted star players, locker room hostage situations, Russian mafia backroom dealings, kidnappings and bloody ears in boxes? (And there’s even more shenanigans where that came from). It’s Canadian camp! So bad it’s good! So good that I want more!

So what am I left with now, CBC? 24-wannabe, The Border? Um, no thanks.

*Fans of the show have started an MVP Facebook Page along with an online petition to keep the show alive.

Posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 1:14 pm by Kat and is filed under We <3 TV.