'Princesses: Long Island' has been canceled
Bravo's "Princesses: Long Island" won't be coming back for a second season. Credit: Bravo
Bravo's "Princesses: Long Island" -- which last summer seemed to infuriate half of LI and intrigue the other half (though in truth, quite a few more of the former than latter) -- is not returning to the network.
In plain English, "Princesses" has been canceled.
The network declined to comment, but a Comcast-NBCUniversal source confirmed the end. Bravo today announced a full slate of new programs and returning ones -- and "Princesses" was not among them. In itself, that sort of omission doesn't exactly mean cancellation; other shows, including potentially returning ones, are not in the announcement.
Even so, Bravo's studied months-long silence on the controversial show was notable, and the fact that a "Princesses" reprisal failed to get the slightest hint today was even more so.
"Princesses" was a problem from even before the beginning -- the title an indication that Jewish stereotypes would be deployed, or that some sort of pernicious "Jersey Shore"-like style would smear all Long Islanders.
In fact, "Princesses" managed to offend in ways people never even imagined, even though certainly many viewers did take umbrage to the show's apparent stereotypes, including Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), who torched the show and Bravo in a letter last summer, saying (in part) that "Jews have spent thousands of years trying to dispel stereotypes."
But "Princesses," which performed well for Bravo and built a real fan base, made a handful of missteps, including an opening bobble that infuriated the Village of Freeport, and, later, another which perhaps even sealed its eventual doom.
During a shoot at Great Neck Plaza Park, a cast member told a model she was with to offer beer to a statue of 9/11 firefighter Jonathan Lee Ielpi:
"Now kiss the fireman, and try to feed him the beer, and wipe it off and act like scared... awesome..."
Ielpi, 29, assigned to Squad 288 in Maspeth, was killed in the south tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
The footage was later removed. The damage however was done -- and so was the series.
