Sen. Manchin wants MTV to cancel West Virginia-set 'Buck Wild'

close

Video

Sen. Manchin not wild about 'Buckwild'

West Virginia senator wants MTV to cancel 'Jersey Shore' type show

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin wants MTV to cancel its new series "Buck Wild," saying the raunchy reality show set in his state plays to "ugly, inaccurate stereotypes."

In a letter sent Friday to MTV President Stephen Friedman, Manchin wrote that he was "repulsed" by the show.

"As a proud West Virginian, I am writing to formally request that you put a stop to the travesty called 'Buckwild,'" wrote Manchin, who used to be governor of the state.

"Instead of showcasing the beauty of our people and our state, you preyed on young people, coaxed them into displaying shameful behavior -- and now you are profiting from it. That is just wrong."

The network ordered 12 episodes of the show last fall, and a trailer shows the cast drinking and swearing, four-wheeling and fighting, even filling a dump truck with water and using it as a swimming pool. It was shot in Sissonville and Charleston.

An MTV spokeswoman said Friday that the network had no comment. The network weathered similar complaints over its controversial "Jersey Shore" series.

"Buck Wild" is set to begin airing Jan. 3, but Manchin asked Friedman to "reconsider."

"I hope that as you consider your decision, that you would consider your own state, your own community and your own children. Would you try to portray them in this light?" he wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.