Ladies Crack a Bottle With Ray J

First of all, let's clear the air and just admit that you were watching VH1's champagne-soaked dating show For the Love of Ray J. Yes, I know, I know, you could barely get through two episodes of geriatric Flav blessing all manner of badly weaved-up strippers and would-be candy girls with his gold-plated clocks. But real talk, you watched it, and probably A Real Chance at Love, too. Maybe it's that when it comes to escapist fare like this, network television's counterprogramming has been so slow to recognize that black men (with enough encouragement) will spend a few dollars on Roses. Shows like The Bachelor have yet to incorporate color blind casting, and as far as I've heard, the token black girls are usually filtered out within the first round.

But a funny thing happened while watching Ray's iteration of VH1's wildly successful "Of Love" series. The "Sexy Ladies" singer was not only making for good, guilty-pleasure television, but the 28-year-old was also proving to be leading man material. (How often did you cringe when Public Enemy's hypeman got within even spitting distance of one of those chicks?) Unlike brothers Real and Chance, Brandy Norwood's cute baby brother is at least talented, and didn't give the impression that he might actually prefer his girl with a little more testosterone (ahem). That he/producers didn't hide the female influences in his life, from sis to right-hand-gal cousin Lil B, was equally impressive.

Moreover, Ray's boy-next-door quality quieted a lot of the sex tape noise that made him questionable initially. In fact, planting the idea that the impetus for the show was one of transformation was key: Would Ray shed his "shower" habit and take up Scrabble? Would he sip Chardonnay or a different kind of Cocktail? Part of what makes these shows work is a certain accessibility and an aspirational thing (guys want to be him; girls want to be with him). See you at the Reunion Show; bring the Champagne.