The last we heard of singer Toni Braxton she was declaring bankruptcy for the second time, having racked up between $10 to $50 million in debt all over the country. Toni had no idea how much she owed exactly, but knew it was at least 8 figures and included unpaid parking tickets, medical bills, IRS leins, and charges to Neiman Marcus. Now Toni has to make some money to continue to live foolishly. She’s set to star in a reality show with her sisters, who are also singers. The show will premiere on the WE Network next year, along with a new reality show starring Joan and Melissa Rivers. Now the Rivers reality show could be mildly interesting, particularly since Joan has really gone off the rails lately. I wonder if they’ll air footage in which she compares various people to Hitler or if they’ll edit those parts out.

Braxton, the Grammy-winning singer of “Un-Break My Heart” and “You’re Makin’ Me High,” will appear in “Braxton Family Values” on the WE network starting in April. Braxton’s sisters – Traci, Towanda, Trina and Tamar – are all aspiring singers…

The dynamic of four women trying to follow the 43-year-old Braxton into show business – with varying levels of success – appealed to WE executives. The network’s research indicated that programs about families, often with a humorous touch, is a niche worth exploring.

On Jan. 25, WE is debuting a series about Joan Rivers and daughter, Melissa, along with “A Stand Up Mother,” about comedian Tammy Pescatelli trying to balance family and career.

“Our goal is to put on families that are big personalities, who are interesting, entertaining, full of drama and conflict and you can’t wait to tune in next week,” Kim Martin, the network’s president and general manager, said recently.

WE believes family members who are emotionally invested in one another will make for situations that ring truer than reality fare where strangers are forced together in contrived circumstances, said John Miller, the network’s programming chief.

“Our goal is not to look at family viewing,” Martin said. “Our goal is to show families, because women define themselves by the relationships in their lives.”

Viewers relate to the family in “Downsized,” particularly the boy who sold his baseball mitt to raise money, Martin said. The show’s audience was about twice the size of what WE had previously aired on Saturday nights, she said.

[From AP]

All these new networks need programming, and reality shows are just about the easiest way to get built-in drama and plotlines, by filming and exaggerating what’s already happening in the lives of lesser celebrities. In Toni’s case there’s sure to be a lot of mindless shopping and throwing away parking tickets without looking at them. We’ll get to see Joan Rivers go to the plastic surgeon and make fun of various celebrities using tired old jokes that could apply to just about anyone. Maybe Oprah does have it right when she says we need to raise the bar for television, or maybe WE isn’t aiming low enough. We’ve clearly shown a preference for trashier television with famewhores who will do anything for publicity. Toni Braxton and Joan Rivers are just run of the mill has-beens, and those kind of reality shows have run their course.