I'll admit I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to my pop culture. Like the small-screen equivalent of a "label whore," I let a select group of networks command my DVR playlist just as DVF crams my closet (in my dreams). Trained grizzly bears in tutus buying push-up bras from Kathy Griffin? If it's on Bravo, I'm watching. Feral children running a charm school for Real Housewives rejects? TLC (or maybe We) could make it work.
So then imagine my disappointment (disgust, actually) to learn from Jada that BET—that swap meet of salacious television—might become the new home of The Game, formerly of the CW network. I refuse to watch BET (I also refuse to watch The Bad Wig Channel, er, Lifetime, which is why I've been missing this season of "Project Runway") because the years haven't been kind to the marriage of "black" and "entertainment." What started out as a loving, nurturing and fresh relationship has devolved into something so abusive, so sinister and so corrupted that it hurts to look. So I don't.
Only time will tell if The Game can do for BET what Isaac Mizrahi did for Target, but I know I won't be able to watch the price tag on such a top-notch show get slashed to low.
—Helena "BET Ain't Good Enough for Me" Andrews
Helena Andrews is a contributing editor at The Root and author of Bitch Is the New Black, a memoir in essays. Follow her on Twitter.