VH1 Showcases New Programming Initiatives

PASADENA, January 12: Bling’d:
Blood, Diamonds and Hip Hop, a
hard-hitting view of the diamond trade in West Africa and the
“diamond-obsessed” hip-hop community, is among a raft of new programming
initiatives announced by VH1 yesterday.

A joint venture between
VH1, Article 19 Films, Djali Rancher Productions and the United Nations
Development Program, the film follows hip-hop artists Paul Well, Raekwon (of Wu
Tang Clan) and reggaeton king Tego Calderon as they travel to Sierra Leone, the
heart of the diamond trade. It also sees U.S. artists like Kanye West weighing
in on the concept of “bling” in the hip-hop community. The documentary intends
to educate Americans about how they can play a role in eradicating the
smuggling of blood diamonds and become conscious consumers and is the latest
addition to VH1’s Rock Docs franchise. It is slated to air on VH1 on February
22 at 8 p.m.

In addition to Bling’d, VH1 announced a handful of other shows, includingBox
Set, originally produced for
broadband, which makes its linear channel premiere on January 24 at 11 p.m.
with an episode on Gwen Stefani, featuring a compilation of the artist's music
videos, performances, and exclusive interview clips. The Agency, from GRB, Wilhelmina Productions and Left/Right,
takes an inside look at the Wilhelmina Modeling Agency. It launches February 20
at 10 p.m. The 7×30-minute Dice Undisputed, launching March 4 at 10 p.m., is a behind-the-scenes look at
comedian Andrew Dice Clay’s life. Acceptable TV debuting March 23 at 10 p.m., will each week
showcase three-minute episodes of six proposed TV series, most produced by Jack
Black, Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab—the team behind Channel 101, a
competitive forum for digital shorts—and some produced by web users.
Viewers will then be able to vote, via the website www.acceptable.tv, for three
of those series to return with a new episode. The three with the least votes
are cancelled and replaced by three new pilots the following week. All shows
will be shown on the website. The best of these shorts could eventually grow to
a full series on VH1.

Rounding out the new shows
for the network is the Untitled Boy Band Project, for the spring, where former boy band stars Chris
Kirkpatrick (N*SYNC), Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees), Rich Cronin (LFO) and Bryan
Abrams (Color Me Badd) will live together for one month, create new music, a
stage show and perform as a new pop group.