Ask yourself this question? Is there any more room on television for another reality-TV show featuring black people? Well according to Lifetime there is. This show isn’t aiming to be the stereotypical reality show featuring hip-hop love triangles and sex tapes. Nor will it feature NBA groupies turned baby mommas, turned housewives, turned whatever else TV is known to throw at you.
What will it feature?
BAPs!
No, it’s not a remake of that awful Halle Berry movie, that she probably regrets ever doing. According to Lifetime, “BAPs pulls back the curtain on an exclusive, privileged and affluent group of African-American friends from St. Louis who self-identify as ‘BAPs’—Black American Princesses and Princes.”
After watching the short trailer for the series, I was left with a lot of “meh.” First, I thought I’d ask a few friends from the area, who I always thought of as “upper crust,” if they’d ever heard of any of these people on the show. And everyone followed up with, "Who are these people?"
Supposedly Lifetime rounded up a group of friends who call themselves “BAPs,” and documented their sophisticated lifestyles. Not to mention horrible hair weaves.
As much as the hype is about how educated and sophisticated these people are, the trailer also eluded to fights and arguments, so it doesn’t exactly remove itself from the likes of all the other reality-TV shows out there.
If I were giving it stars or thumbs up, it’ll definitely get one star and two thumbs down. The last thing TV needs is yet another reality-TV show.
BAPs premieres tonight on the Lifetime network at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Yesha Callahan is editor of The Grapevine and a staff writer at The Root. Follow her on Twitter.