LOS ANGELES — As an MTV executive, Rod Aissa helped develop “Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica,” the reality series that peered into the lives of Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson.
Aissa, now at Oxygen Media, believes he’s found equally engaging young marrieds who will appeal to today’s millennials. The twist: the couple featured in Oxygen’s”Rich in Faith” are pastors, not pop stars.
The reality show (which debuted 10 p.m. Wednesday) features Rich Wilkerson Jr. and his wife, DawnChere, both 31 and offspring of ministers, as they launch a youth-oriented Miami church and grapple with balancing work and home life.
Oxygen, which targets 18-to-34-year-old female viewers, is “trying to connect them to relatable characters, experiences and milestones of their lives,” Aissa said.
The Wilkersons are appealing, he said, and the fact that their “business happens to be religion” brings an added dimension.
“What I liked about it for Oxygen is the overlay of the discussion of faith,” he said. “We know from brand research … that traditional things like family and relationship to God and spirituality are still high on their (the audience’s) list.”
Rich Wikerson, who started with his parents’ ministry in Miami, brings a celebrity connection to the series: He married Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
Vous, the church the Wilkersons are founding, has a certain glitz of its own, with music, dance, strobe lights and fog machines added to appeal to their generation. They take their ministry to the street as well, meeting people on their own ground.
The Wilkersons say it’s their relationship with God and parishioners that’s important, not TV celebrity or its trappings.
“So often it’s really easy, especially for people of faith, to sit around and report negatively about the status quo of where our nation is or where entertainment is,” said Rich Wilkerson, author of the newly published “Sandcastle Kings,” which includes a blurb from Kim Kardashian West (Wilkerson’s optimism and “passion for the Word of God are contagious,” she said).
“Our idea was to do something that’s encouraging, that’s positive out there. We want to show people you can have faith, even in this busy, chaotic world we live in right now,” he said.
While he’s not a reality TV watcher, Wilkson said, “no matter what you think about it, it’s the language of our culture. We want to be people who are trying to take every opportunity to spread the message of faith.”
Faith and reality TV have become close companions. A number of shows are based on families for whom religion is a visible part of their lives, including UP’s “Bringing Up Bates,” in its third season. Others focus on the clergy, among them Oxygen’s “Preachers” franchise that started in Los Angeles and moved on to include other cities.
“Preachers of LA” was criticized by some African-Americans ministers who said the show could foster the inaccurate idea that preachers are in it for fame and wealth.
DawnChere Wilkerson believes her series demonstrates “how our faith and relationship with Jesus is really the greatest influence in every part of life, whether marriage, at work, with friends and family,” she said.
