MTV is saying goodbye to its re-do of the UK hit “Skins.”
The network pulled the plug on the racy teen series just shy of a second season, MTV confirmed on Thursday.
“Skins is a global television phenomenon that, unfortunately, didn’t connect with a US audience as much as we had hoped. We admire the work that the series’ creator Bryan Elsley did in adapting the show for MTV, and appreciate the core audience that embraced it,” the network said in a statement.
While it was on the air at the beginning of 2011, the show’s racy content – featuring teens using drugs and engaging in sexual activities – made a host of headlines and prompted outcries from TV watchdog groups.
Additionally, a host of advertisers pulled their ads from the program including Taco Bell, Wrigley, Subway and General Motors.
The uproar over the show was so headline-making that the British creator of the series spoke out in a statement on MTV’s website, defending the program, calling it “simple” and “old fashioned.”
”‘Skins’ is a very simple and in fact rather old fashioned television series. 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,” creator Bryan Elsley said in a lengthy statement, posted on MTV’s website back in January. “The show is written from the perspective of teenagers, reflects their world view, and this has caused a degree of controversy both in the UK and the USA.
“It tries to tell the truth. Sometimes that truth can be a little painful to adults and parents,” Elsley’s statement continued.
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