Blonde Charity Mafia

Last updated
Blonde Charity Mafia
Blonde Charity Mafia Logo.jpg
StarringKatherine Kennedy
Sophie Pyle
Krista Johnson
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers Julie Pizzi
Patty Ivins
Original release
Network MTV Australia
ReleaseAugust 5 (2009-08-05) 
September 9, 2009 (2009-09-09)

Blonde Charity Mafia is a reality television series produced by Patty Ivins and Julie Pizzi of PB&J Television that followed the lives of three socialites whose lives revolved around charity events. Although the show never aired in the United States, it did air on MTV Australia, MTV UK, and MTV New Zealand, as well as on Star! and other channels in about a dozen other countries. [1] [2] The show was bootlegged from Europe and shown on a website, and had a cult-like following in the United States – particularly in Washington, D.C. – for a brief period of time. [3]

Contents

Network and premiere date changes and cancellation

Blonde Charity Mafia was developed by the Lifetime network, and filmed in September 2008 on location in Washington, D.C. [4] After production was completed, Lifetime decided to sell the series to The CW rather than airing it. [5] The CW scheduled the series premiere for July 7, 2009 at 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central. However, the network later decided to forgo all new programming for that summer, and planned to broadcast the series in the winter as a midseason replacement. [6] [7] Sometime after that, The CW apparently lost interest in the show; it removed references to the series from its websites, and on December 29, officially confirmed that it would not air on the network. [8] [9] Blonde Charity Mafia was apparently dropped in favor of two reality series developed by The CW, Fly Girls, about Virgin America flight attendants, and High Society, which followed socialite Tinsley Mortimer. [8] On May 20, 2010, not long after completing their eight-episode runs, both of these series were canceled as well.

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References

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  2. Svetlana (26 August 2009). "The Wait is Over! Blonde Charity Mafia Premieres Tonight!". Brightest Young Things. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009.
  3. Reliable, The (2010-02-26). "Reliable Source - 'Blonde Charity Mafia,' now playing on a computer screen near you". Voices.washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  4. Frankel, Daniel (August 20, 2008). "Lifetime falls for 'Blonde Charity Mafia'; Network gives order for documentary series". HOTTOPIC - Reality TV. Daily Variety . Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  5. Mathis, Sommer (2009-04-07). "CW Picks Up Blonde Charity Mafia". DCist. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  6. Schneider, Michael (August 4, 2009). "CW hot for remakes". Variety . Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  7. de Moraes, Lisa (June 6, 2009). "A 'Blonde' Summer Highlight? Not So Fast". Style. The Washington Post . p. C05. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  8. 1 2 de Moraes, Lisa (December 30, 2009). "The TV Column: 'Blonde Charity Mafia' gets whacked by CW". The Washington Post . Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  9. "TV By The Numbers by zap2it.com". Tvbythenumbers.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2016-09-13.