If there were a series called TV Show Police, I’m fairly certain E!’s trouble-filled Fashion Police would repeatedly serve as the number one offender. The series has gone through its most tumultuous period yet in the last month – at least where the death of an icon isn’t concerned – and E! is packing it in for a while as Fashion Police is going on an extended hiatus.
Following the highly public exits of former co-hosts Kelly Osbourne and Kathy Griffin, NBCUniversal Lifestyle Networks Group president Frances Berwick has decided to pull up ties and toss out the remaining three Fashion Police episodes that were scheduled to shoot this spring. The play is to bring the show back this fall at some point, with a half-dozen or so episodes centering on different events, such as the Emmys and other award ceremonies.
This will also reportedly be a time of slight restructuring, according to THR, as Berwick did not take lightly to the harsh words used by Griffin in her self-lauding Twitter announcement, in which she backhandedly bashed the show for being too harsh to celebrities and their bodies. There will be reconsideration for such things as the controversial “mani-cam” and the hosts’ approach to commenting on those walking the red carpets, as Berwick stands by the show being about the “light, frothy, fun subjects” of comedy and fashion.
Here’s how she explained her decision to bring the series back, rather than ending it for good.
With the benefit of hindsight, we definitely brought it back too soon [after Joan Rivers’ death]…There was a lot of noise and drama that are really not helpful or additive to the creative process, but there’s a real love for this show. Given the focus on this, the ratings should really be the size of The Walking Dead.
She said that last part jokingly, but I’m pretty sure more people actually would tune in if they let zombies in to feast on the hosts sometimes.
The latest round of controversy started when Giuliana Rancic made a pre-written comment for the Oscar special about how actress Zendaya’s dreadlocks looked like they smelled like weed, which an insulted Osbourne used as a springboard to shoehorn her way out of the show. Rumors have flown about how Osbourne and Griffin were actually close to getting fired, and each decided to beat E! to the punch by quitting early. Defamer has a particularly damning take on Griffin’s short tenure on the show, in which she reportedly alienated nearly everyone and considered herself the star.
Rancic and other new addition Brad Goreski will presumably still be around when Fashion Police comes back to E! this fall. But will the viewers also be there?