We Got to Do Better

Infobox Television
show_name = Hot Ghetto Mess


caption = The show's logo from when it was still titled "Hot Ghetto Mess".
format = Comedy
runtime =
creator =
executive_producer = Jam Donaldson
starring = Charlie Murphy
country =USA
network = Black Entertainment Television
first_aired = July 25, 2007|

"We Got to Do Better", originally titled "Hot Ghetto Mess", is an American television series on Black Entertainment Television. The show is based on the cult website hotghettomess.com, which satirizes aspects of the African-American working class. Jam Donaldson, creator of the website and lawyer, is the show's executive producer. Charlie Murphy, known for his role on "Chappelle's Show", is the show's host. The show's content has been described as "combin [ing] viewer-submitted home videos and BET-produced man-on-the-street interviews that the channel said are intended to challenge and inspire 'viewers to improve themselves and their communities.'"cite web| url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TV_BET_HOT_GHETTO_MESS?SITE=NYONE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT| title=BET exec defends `Hot Ghetto Mess'| author=Elber, Lynn| publisher=Associated Press| date=2007-07-16| accessdate=2007-07-28]

Although Donaldson has said of Hotghettomess.com that "My mission with this site is to usher in a new era of self-examination", [cite web| url=http://hotghettomess.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=41| title=Hot Ghetto Mess - From the Editor| author=Donaldson, Jam| publisher=HotGhettoMess.com| accessdate=2007-07-28] the site has been described as merely an expansive gallery of the worst of hip hop culture. However, BET programming director Reginald Hudlin insisted that the show was not a direct translation of the website, and the show was billed by BET as a tongue-in-cheek social examination of black culture. [cite web| url=http://www.bet.com/Site+Management/Legacy/BETShows/wdb_about.htm| title=Hot Ghetto Mess: About The Show| author=Jenkins, Erin T| publisher=BET.com| accessdate=2007-07-28] The show has experienced controversy due to its negative portrayals of African Americans, causing a name change. Despite the name change, it was reported that at least two sponsors withdrew from the show as a result of the surrounding controversy.

Controversy

The show had become controversial, even before its release, for its stereotypical portrayal of African Americans. In this context, it has been unfavorably compared to minstrel showscite web| url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/07/27/message_of_bet_shows_gets_lost_in_silliness/| title=Message of BET shows gets lost in silliness| author=Weiss, Joanna| publisher=Boston.com| date=2007-07-27| accessdate=2007-07-29] and the VH1 reality show "Flavor of Love". [cite web| url=http://blackvoices.aol.com/blogs/2007/07/12/hot-ghetto-mess-comes-under-question/| title='Hot Ghetto Mess' Comes Under Question| author=Vanderberg, Marcus| publisher=AOL.com| date=2007-07-28| accessdate=2007-07-29] The website on which the show was based has suffered from much of the same controversy, and has resulted in at least one attempted lawsuit.Alston, Joshua. "Too Hot to Handle". "Newsweek", July 20, 2007.] Due to the unreleased show's perceived racial degradation, many blogs and internet petitions called for a boycott of the show. [cite web| url=http://whataboutourdaughters.blogspot.com/2007/07/my-campaign-against-hot-ghetto-mess-in.html| title=My Campaign Against " Hot Ghetto Mess" - In MY OWN WORDS!| publisher=whataboutourdaughters.blogspot.com| date=2007-07-12| accessdate=2007-07-29]

It was reported that, as a result of the controversy, State Farm Insurance and Home Depot pulled their sponsorship from the show. [cite web| url=http://abcnews.go.com/Business/IndustryInfo/story?id=3371295&page=1| title=When Should Advertisers Bail on TV Shows?| author=Mayerowitz, Scott| publisher=ABCNews.com| date=2007-07-13| accessdate=2007-07-29] In truth, neither company ever had intent to purchase advertisements for the show, but did withdraw advertisements from BET.com because of the show. [cite web| url=http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6444449| title=Clarification: Sponsorship of BET's 'Hot Ghetto Mess'| publisher=MercuryNews.com| date=2007-07-23| 2007-07-29] Though BET has defended the show, it decided to change the show's name "Hot Ghetto Mess" to "We Got to Do Better", the tagline of the original website, to clarify the show's intentions. [cite web| url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/24/tv.hotghettomess.ap/index.html| title= 'Hot Ghetto Mess' gets name change| publisher=CNN.com| date=2007-07-24| accessdate=2007-07-28] However, the show will still be referred to as "Hot Ghetto Mess" for the first six episodes, which were filmed before the name was changed. [cite web| url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-ghetto27jul27,1,2597661.story?track=crosspromo&coll=la-headlines-entnews&ctrack=1&cset=true| title=BET's 'Hot Ghetto Mess' doesn't become 'Better'| author=Braxton, Greg| publisher=LATimes.com| date=2007-07-27| accessdate=2007-07-29]

Response

Despite a stronger than expected viewership of 800,000 on the first episode, "We Got to Do Better" has received generally negative reviews, with most critics complaining that the show is too bland and unfunny, and has a muddled message. The show was described as "racially balanced - and equally unfunny - on all levels" by Nekesa Mumbi Moody of the "Associated Press", who also criticized the show's man-on-the-street interviews as inferior to the similar feature on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". [cite web| url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TV_HOT_GHETTO_MESS?SITE=NYONE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT| title=Review: 'Hot Ghetto Mess' tepid, tired| author=Moody, Nekesa Mumbi| publisher=Associated Press| date=2007-07-26| accessdate=2007-07-28] An article in "Newsweek" called the show a "classist sideshow" and said "Gold teeth, neon wigs and oversize thongs—you call that 'social commentary'?" although admitted that BET had not screened the show for them. Later, after watching the show, another "Newsweek" article said "The show is indeed a spectacle, but not quite in the way anyone was expecting. It wasn’t very controversial, funny or interesting." [cite web| url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19886689/site/newsweek/| title=A 'Mess' By Any Other Name| author=Alston, Joshua| publisher="Newsweek"| date=2007-07-27| accessdate=2007-07-28] Critic Joanna Weiss described the show as "deathly boring" and stated that "even if you accept the producers’ intentions as sincere, the show suffers in translation from the Internet to TV." Notwithstanding, at least one review was positive, calling "We Got to Do Better" "a show that was actually teaching something through a little social commentary." [cite web| url=http://www.whudat.com/newsblurbs/more/put_down_the_picket_signs_hot_ghetto_mess_aint_that_bad_1680726071/| title=Put Down The Picket Signs Hot Ghetto Mess Ain’t That Bad| publisher=Whudat.com| date=2007-07-26| accessdate=2007-07-29]

As a response to the controversy surrounding "We Got to Do Better", BET plans to add 16 "balanced" shows to the channel by the end of the year. [cite web| url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVVkhOROBhtmO0erIagBCwlYOFpA| title=Religion News in Brief| publisher=Associated Press| accessdate=2007-09-26]

References

External links

* [http://www.hotghettomess.com HotGhettoMess.com]
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* [http://tv.yahoo.com/we-got-to-do-better/show/42018 "We Got to Do Better" at Yahoo! TV]
* [http://www.myspace.com/wegottodobetter "We Got to Do Better" at MySpace]
* [http://wegottodobetter.blogspot.com "We Got to Do Better Blog"]