New York Goes to Work: Premier

New York Goes to Work
Monday 10pm, VH1

I don’t throw out the ‘R’ word often. Growing up I lived with enough kids from enough different cultures to know that when we made fun of our differences, it wasn’t racism: it was ball-busting. Even today, I think people are too quick to label things as sexist, racist, or homophobic when really those things are just stupid or teasing. But watching the premier of New York Goes to Work last night, I have to say…I’m throwing it out there. So let me take a cue from Tracy Morgan on last week’s 30 Rock by playing my yellow Race Card: this show is racist. There, I’ve said it. Let the chips fall where they may.

There is so much about the premise of New York Goes to Work (NYGTW) that is just wrong from the start: New York (originally a Flavor of Love reject) will participate in a humiliating job for a chance to win $10,000. The audience chooses what job she will do by texting their choice. And you can bet that audience is never going to have New York do a job like “regional sales representative.” No, it’s all going to be humiliating work like pig farming or (as in the premier episode) exterminating. Now, if you look at the audience (predominately white) and if you look at the participant (a black woman), it’s pretty obvious where the racist undertones come in: a white audience chooses unpleasant tasks for a black woman to do for their amusement.

As if the format wasn’t uncomfortable enough, VH1 adds all kinds of little excruciating details which set my teeth on edge. New York rolls up to the exterminator office in an Escalade with her hair and makeup immaculately done, her clothing modest and professional, and then proceeds to get…what? Smacked off her high horse? She’s put in her uniform and joins the (all-white) exterminator staff, who have her help clean out beehives, wrangle snakes, and remove a dead animal from under a house. They badger and belittle her to get her to work, frustrated by her frequent running-away. The lesson here? White people know how to get a job done. Isn’t it funny to watch black people try and work?

As if that wasn’t nauseating enough, watching New York work is equally painful. What, there’s something about watching her climb under a house in full hair and makeup that’s supposed to be entertaining to me? Why should I be entertained? Because she was a classy African American women and it’s fun knocking rich African American women down to size?

I’m guessingVH1 is banking on New York’s reactions as being the key entertainment factor. These are usually (but not limited to) screams, hysterics, tears, and prayers. But this is another area where I’m going to call Race Shenanigans. I’m not trying to rip on New York—I like her, I think she is who she is and has a sweet personality. But at the same time I also think she plays up many traits associated with those old-school Southern plantation stereotypes, and I think VH1 exploits that.

NYGTW isn’t far from that tradition. Remember Prissy from Gone with the Wind? The dim house slave who claimed “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ babies, Miss Scarlett” then spent half an hour running around the house screaming? Remember how horrifying it was to see the 1930’s glorify that behavior as being “how black women were”? I can’t help but feel VH1’s decision to air NYGTW in the format they did—specifically designed to elicit hysterics from New York—is similar to Gone with the Wind’s decision to have Prissy play a hysterical mess. “Oh, look at New York and that snake. Those black people, they get so crazy!”

To add insult to injury, the show’s credits and graphics give NYGTW an even seedier feel. Before each commercial break, New York’s three prospective jobs for the following week pop up, and viewers are invited to vote. Each job appears before a swirling candy-colored background next to an avatar of New York as, say, a construction worker or a school teacher. The whole thing is supposed to be playful, but it instead brings unpleasant connotations of late-night solicitations for text message horoscopes or Girls Gone Wild trials.

There’s nothing inherently racist about allowing New York to work for money—hell, even having us vote on it isn’t racist. There’s something about the combination of her reactions, what we’re being asked to laugh at, how she’s being dressed, how the show is shot…the whole thing comes across as a bit bullying. It’s the unstated interaction between New York and the audience: she plays up her fear for the audience’s benefit, the audience humiliates her for their own benefit. So any way you add it up, $10,000 seems like little more than reparations for the half-hour of suffering. If you ask me, it isn’t enough.

Tiffany Pollard in talks with WWE

VH1 reality show star Tiffany “New York” Pollard is currently in talks with WWE about talking an active role in Wrestlemania. Those of you who have been waiting for New York to get choke slammed or maybe getting RKO’d and kicked in the side of the head by Randy Orton may finally get their wish.

PWTorch.com said that Tiffany may be involved in a storyline with her former reality show love interest, David “Punk” Otunga, from I Love New York 2.

Ms. Pollard’s television history includes Flavor of Love, I Love New York and New York Goes to Hollywood.

The smart marketing would be a crossover of both shows, with New York rehearsing for the WWE on her show, and WWE featuring her on the Raw and Smackdown shows leading up to Wrestlemania.

Not that I watch wrestling or anything…

VH1′ s Jason “Heat” Rosell’s Music Video

Actually this is the video for Shortee D and The Playa Thugs song “Toxicated.” I call it Heat’s video because in every scene you see Heat. Its pretty obvious that he’s been doing a lot since his exit from I Love Money. If you want to see more of what Heat’s been working on check out his official website. JasonHeatRosell.Com

Tiffany Pollard Speaks Out on “Charm School” and Reality TV in Her Life

It wouldn’t be August without a Tiffany “New York” Pollard reality show, would it?  New York has done four reality shows for VH1 in two years, and made an appearance in Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School, and will drop by I Love Money before all is said and done. And just when you think there is nothing left for her to do, except maybe another I Love New York, the network has found another reality tv vehicle for her in New York Goes to Hollywood, which airs tonight at 10:00 PM.

Recently The L.A. Times interviewed Tiffany, and as usual, she was quite outspoken. She admits that she is actually addicted to watching reality tv herself, and feels that it “can be a lesson on how not to act.”  And it doesn’t matter to her if people also see her behavior on television as an example of bad conduct, because she doesn’t see herself as a role model

She also had some definite opinions about Mo’Nique the host of  the first season of Charm School. She feels that Mo’Nique had very unrealistic and rigid views on how young women are to conduct themselves, and perceived that her main concern was black representation, when it came to the women of color on the show. She also talks about what it is like to pursue her acting career, and how being on reality television has changed her life.

Click here to read the full story

The Wedding Is Off: Tiffany Pollard and Taylor Made Split

Well, they said it wouldn’t last…and they were right. Tiffany Pollard of Flavor of Love and I Love New York notoriety and George Weisberger, the man she chose on I Love New York 2 have broken up.

The couple who had been living together with Weisberger (known as “Tailor Made”) and his daughter since her dating reality show stopped taping  last summer. On the reunion show, Tailor Made proposed and Tiffany accepted. There were rumors that the two would be married in Las Vegas in February, but it never happened.

Throughout the couple’s relationship there have been rumors of infidelity on both sides, with reports of Tailor Made’s drunken macking of women in clubs and a sex tape that circulated in the internet that was supposed to be New York, even though it did not really look like her.

Reliable sources say that the real reason for the break up was caused by their career aspirations, but mostly by the demands of Weisberger’s career. He is established in the fashion community, and worked at Calvin Klein.. He quit that job to do I Love New York 2, but when the show ended, he was hired by Mark Ecko, which kept him away from home very often, leaving Tiffany by herself frequently. The relationship began to suffer. Sources say that part of the problem was that Tiffany was not used to being with a man with a real career.

Although the couple split at the end of this winter, they continued to  pretend to be together for the sake of VH1. The “breakup” will be shown on Pollard’s new reality show, New York Goes Hollywood. Rumor has it that he will be caught “cheating”. Even though they weren’t together at the time, and it’s clear that their television drama is going to be purely dramatic and ficticious, sources say that Tailor Made went along with it out of respect for New York.

Video Countdown to I Love Money

It’s only a matter of time before VH1 gives us our summer reality TV fix. But until then, let’s watch the crew from I Love Money show us how hard it is to get off a boat.

Take A Sneak Peek at I Love Money

Here’s a preview of VH1’s summer reality show, I Love Money, which features a lot of the folks who have amused us on Rock of Love, Flavor of Love and I Love New York. Although there are a few hook-ups, the goal is to be the last man or woman standing at the end of the series, and get paid for all your hard work and scandalous behavior.

Flavor of Love Spinoff Ditches the “Love” Pretense

Finally, VH1 has come up with a spinoff of their “love” reality shows that totally throws the, “Are you here for me?” question out the window. This summer the cable network will be launching their new show, “I Love Money.”

Honestly, we all knew that everyone on Flavor of Love, Rock of Love, and I Love New York was not there for love. It was always a joke when Flav or New York would suddenly suspect that a contestant was not “there for them”, because everyone was there to boost their careers, or at least get recognized on the street and asked to host parties.

According to Variety.com, former contestants of Flavor of Love, Rock of Love and I Love New York will be competing in a series of reality show competitions, not for fake tv love, but cash prizes. The show has already been filmed, and the casting special is set to air on July 6th, and the series will debut on July 13. Carmelo Anthony’s baby’s mama and VH1 Flavor of Love reunion host, Alani “La La” Vasquez will host the show.

New York Takes on a Play in Chicago

Tiffany Pollard has wasted no time pursuing her acting career, and if you live in the Chicago area you could have seen for yourself last week. The star of the VH1 dating shows, I Love York and I Love New York 2 has just finished a two night run of the play, Relationship Games at The Arie Crown Theater on Lakeshore Drive.

While she was in town, she spoke with Anita P.Bryant, who wrote two pieces for the Chicago Defender. New York shares her hopes for her career, what she thinks of the character she is playing in Relationship Games, her own relationship, and her new show on VH1, New York Loves Hollywood.

Bryant also interviews George “Tailor Made” Weisberger, Tiffany’s finance, who also made the Chicago trip to support his girl New York. He speaks about what he feels the future holds for the couple.

To read the full article, click here.

Tiffany Pollard’s Gets Another VH1 Show

 

When is New York located on the West Coast? When Tiffany Pollard pursues her career in Hollywood. VH1 has extended Tiffany’s fifteen minutes of reality show fame by following the pursuit of her acting career in a new show called, New York Goes to Hollywood.

The show, which starts filming by the end of the month will show viewers New York as she tries to make the big time as an actress in L.A. However, according to BuddyTV, VH1 is having a bit of trouble casting the drama queen’s manager, and getting celebrities to do cameos. The 10 episode show will cover the span of a month.

New York first made her reality tv appearance as the over-the-top contestant vying for rapper/hype man Flavor Flav’s attention in Flavor of Love. After losing out at the end, she came back even crazier in Flavor of Love 2, only to be dumped again at the end by Flav. This led to a spin-off of her own dating reality show, I Love New York, where she found love, but was kicked to the curb once again, this time at her reunion show. She is currently living with and engaged to fashion executive George “Tailor Made” Weisberger, her romantic choice on I Love New York 2.

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