"Skins" Creator Defends Show as "Old-Fashioned"

Some activists are calling it child porn, but the creator of MTV's "Skins" says the show is actually an old-fashioned show about values.

"Skins’ is a very simple and in fact rather old-fashioned television series,” co-creator Bryan Elsley said in a statement issued to MTV.
“It's about the lives and loves of teenagers, how they get through high school, how they deal with their friends, and also how they circumnavigate some of the complications of sex, relationships, educations, parents, drugs and alcohol.”

The Parents Television Council differs, calling “Skins” the “most dangerous program ever for children.”

Elsley said the show, which has U.S. and U.K. versions, is a serious attempt to explore young people's lives.

“When viewers have taken the time to watch the show in a little more depth, they are less concerned about the behavior of the characters," Elsley said. "Teenagers can be loyal, supportive, dedicated, focused, and capable of making informed value judgments about their lives. In the pilot episode of 'Skins,' it's possibly easy to overlook the story wherein a young boy sets off to a party to sell drugs and have sex, but in fact, does neither of these things, because he senses that he has been manipulated by friends and does not feel ready to have sex with someone he does not know properly."

So far, Wrigley, H&R Block, General Motors and Taco Bell have pulled advertising from the show.

“We will continue to monitor every broadcast and every rebroadcast of ‘Skins’ so that we can inform the public which corporations are underwriting underage teen sex, underage teen drug use and underage teen alcohol use,” PTC President Tim Winter said.

Greg Kinnear Defends Axed ‘Kennedys’ Miniseries

The future for “The Kennedys” – the axed miniseries about the famous political family – remains in limbo, but star Greg Kinnear is hopeful the project will find a suitable home.

Access Hollywood caught up with the actor, who plays John F. Kennedy alongside Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy in the miniseries that was originally slated to air on The History Channel, at the Sundance Film Festival on Monday, where Greg defended the project.

“Unfortunate,” Greg told Access when asked about the project’s uncertain road ahead. “Obviously, I’ve read everything that everybody else has.

“We had an extraordinary, great group behind the show and it was done with great care and sensitivity and The History Channel, for whatever reason, got into the hot box on that,” Greg continued. “We’re hoping it finds a home. I’m not sure what its status is right now.”

As previously reported, when Access caught up with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at Sundance on Monday, the son of Robert F. Kennedy shared his reaction to the news that the eight-part miniseries would not be shown on The History Channel.

“You know, I don’t know much about it… My understanding of it was that it was historically inaccurate, that it was created by a group of people who had an extreme and ingrained hostility towards my family and that they, you know, they twisted history,” he told Access. “I don’t think that — in any case, whoever it’s about — that we should be teaching history to Americans that is not true.”

Days after The History Channel canceled their plans to air the miniseries, Showtime also passed on “The Kennedys.”