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I freely admit that when it comes to good taste and my reality-TV viewing habits, my bar is set so low it's practically subterranean. Yes, I'll happily watch Megan Wants A Millionaire, Tool Academy, Real Chance Of Love 2: Back In The Saddle, etc., all the while blissfully ignoring that familiar feeling of my cerebellum slowing dissolving into liquefied chum with each Celebreality minute that ticks away. But I must say, I may have to draw the line at the new Jackson family reality show reportedly slated to soon run on A&E.

See, before Michael Jackson tragically died this past June 25, his less-famous brothers Jackie, Marlon, and Tito shot a one-hour pilot for an A&E reality show that would ideally climax, at the season's end, with a ratings-garnering reunion performance featuring the King Of Pop. However, Michael obviously died before such a possibility could be finalized.

I naturally assumed that the A&E series died along with Michael, but apparently that's not the case after all. According to a story in the Hollywood Reporter today, sources say A&E is in fact moving ahead with the Jacksons' show, altering the original concept from being lightheartedly centered around a possible Jackson 5 reunion to instead following the surviving Jackson brothers' post-MJ lives as they "grapple with Michael's death."

While it's to be determined whether the existing Jacksons footage will be edited into half-hour or hour-long episodes, the Hollywood Reporter article states that the pilot for the show (which was masterminded by longtime Jacksons manager Danny O'Donovan) will air on A&E sometime in the next month.

Now, with the exception of the patently unwatchable Jon & Kate Plus 8, I'm all for a little dirty-laundry-airing in the name of unscripted entertainment. For instance, I cringed yet refused to look away, utterly fascinated, as crazy Danny Bonaduce slugged a Big Gulp-sized vodka cocktail on the sidewalk in Breaking Bonaduce. And I admit I am tempted to watch this Jacksons' show for the same guilty-pleasure reasons.

Except this time I'll just feel guilty--little "pleasure" involved. The idea of such a show just seems WRONG to me.

I harbored similar fears of crass exploitation about last month's Michael Jackson memorial at the Staples Center, which actually turned out to be genuinely moving and lovely. So sure, it is possible that the Jacksons' A&E show will be a tasteful production--offering a rare touching glimpse into the Jacksons' shattered lives, furthering humanizing the oft-misunderstood Michael, and maybe even finally providing closure for MJ's relatives and fans alike. But I have my serious doubts.

I just hope that opportunist patriarch Joe Jackson is not involved in this project any way...and that Michael's poor kids stay OFF-camera.

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