July 17, 2012

TLC to bring Pete Rose reality show to television

Pete Rose showing off his excellent taste in head-gear.

Entertainment Weekly reported today that TLC has ordered 17 episodes of a Pete Rose reality show.

All Cincinnati Reds–and most baseball–fans know of Rose as the one-time baseball star who bet on baseball and then was banned from baseball when he got caught. The banning, of course, kept him out of the Hall of Fame, despite his holding the all-time hits record.

So what will TLC be showing?

With a working title of Pete Rose and Kiana Kim Family Project, the show will follow the 71-year-old Rose and his thirtysomething model fiancée Kiana Kim (who has posed for Playboy) through their daily lives as they try to blend their families.

That title’s quite a mouthful. I’m betting that changes before it airs.

I remember seeing Rose with a picture of his Playboy model girlfriend a few years ago. I’m surprised they’re still together.

“We’re not a traditional family,” says Kim. “We are a total modern-day family, mixing the cultures, the ages, the different backgrounds together. I didn’t even know who Pete Rose was when I first met him. It’s kind of a crazy story, but at the core of every family is love and it’s what TLC wants to show.” Quips Rose: “We’re just a normal family with 4,200 hits.”

Technically, it’s 4,258, if you count Pete Rose, Jr.’s contribution.

There is one quote from Rose that strikes me as a little sad.

I’m not in the Hall of Fame because I screwed up. It’s not Bud’s fault. It’s not [former commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti’s] fault. It’s not Mike Schmidt’s fault or Johnny Bench’s fault. I’m the one who screwed up. And if I’m ever given a second chance, all I can tell you is: I won’t need a third.”

Granted, Rose has always had a streak of saying whatever he thinks has the best chance of getting him that second chance, but at 71, it’s starting to feel like he’s getting more desperate. I’m not sure that a reality show is part of the path to that second chance, but Rose still has to make a living.

And in case you were worried about the show being tasteless, like Hugh Hefner’s The Girls Next Door, let Rose calm your fears: “It’s not going to be classless — like it seems like a lot of reality shows aren’t really reality, but our reality show is going to be funny, entertaining, and real.” That’s what I think of when I hear Rose’s name: classy.

Comments are closed.