The newest twist on reality shows is an offering called "Who Wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen," which is built around the concerns about illegal immigration in the U.S.
Morusa Media is the producer of the show, and has been shopping it around to the networks and cable companies. So far they haven't had any takers, and with good reason.
What the show is attempting to do is bring about a relationship between U.S. citizens and immigrants with temporary visas to be in the country. Most of those immigrants are of course Hispanic.
It would be similar to the long-running Dating Game, where contestants asked questions and made a decision based on the responses of the potential dates. In this case it would be a decision on a possible mate.
"We're just out to play matchmaker," said the show's host, Angelo Gonzales. "There are thousands of U.S. citizens seeking a spouse, and just as many immigrants seeking the same. So we want to make it a win-win situation for all involved."
This sounds harmless, but when you consider the hopes of some of the contestants in the show, not simply for a potential mate, but the real underlying reason to partake in the show: U.S. citizenship, it has somewhat of a dark underside which could be devastating to those thinking they're one step away from their dreams of citizenship.
Morusa says they don't guarantee any citizenship or marriage, but the premise is the real possibility is there, which in reality it chances of it happening are extremely rare, if at all.
With so many strong feelings about immigration and the potential for a lot of pain and broken dreams, it's hard to see this being picked up by a major network. What type of advertising would be placed against it for one thing?
It's possible a minor cable company could pick it up and try it out for a few weeks to test the response. Other than that this is going to be a hard sell. I think it'll be looked at as exploitive of people in a way that even the edgiest of most TV networks would find a hard time selling.
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