You Knew It Was Coming

With the headlong race to the lowest common denominator (and below) in reality TV programming, you knew this was just a matter of time:

[Showtime] has greenlit a half-hour latenight reality series chronicling the life of adult entertainment producer, director and occasional performer Adam Glasser, aka Seymore Butts.

The currently untitled 10-episode project will focus on various aspects of Glasser's personal and professional lives as well as the people around him. In addition to Glasser, his mother, who keeps his books, and his cousin Stevie will be featured.

"This is not an expose on the industry," executive producer Arnold Shapiro told Daily Variety. "It's about the ironies and the humor that are associated with a man who chooses to have an alter ego and do this work." [Variety]

Does reality get any more real than porn?

"This particular show combines the best elements of real characters and funny situations and great storytelling," said Jay Blumenfield, who is so-executive producing. "It also features porn. What more could you want from a half-hour of television?"

Shapiro said he and production partner Allison Grodner got the idea to tackle the subject of adult entertainment — for pay TV in a latenight setting — last year after seeing "American Porn," which aired as part of PBS' "Frontline" documentary series.

"It showed how mainstream the business has become — it's something like a $4 billion industry," said Shapiro.

Mom, apple pie, Chevrolet, and Seymore Butts.

"One of the reasons we ultimately decided on Seymore Butts, his mom and his cousin was his attitude about the business," Shapiro said. "He does have a code of ethics that he runs his business by, and lives by, that impressed us."

Shapiro also said it was important to choose someone who is relatable.

"In his nonworking life he is trying to find love, he loves sports, he wants to settle down and get married," he said. "His life is full of ironies, it's full of humor, it's full of conflict, as you could imagine."

Plus it has porn.

Article Author: Eric Olsen

Career media professional Eric Olsen is honored to be the founder and former publisher of Blogcritics.org, and former publisher of Technorati.com, which both rule. He is now editor, co-founder, and CEO of The Morton Report.

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