Lake Shore dies off, to the delight of many and the surprise of few

This could be the last time you’ll ever need to see this “sizzle reel”
When news broke a couple days ago that Toronto wouldn’t in fact be getting a homegrown answer to Jersey Shore, it was met with sighs of relief. Producer Maryam Rahimi officially called it quits on her controversial show Lake Shore after having trouble finding a network to pick up the series. Although conceding defeat, Rahimi told the Toronto Star she feels the show was close to finding a network partner: “We became victims of circumstances. It was no one’s fault; this is just the way business is,” Rahimi said. Apparently, contacts at media giant Rogers fell through during a turnover at the company.

Of course, the failure to find backing could have a little to do with the controversy that dogged the release of the show’s “sizzle reel,” with characters that spewed borderline anti-Semitic sentiments (Bernie Farber, then CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, labelled the show racist). At least for Rahimi, the show seems to be a success: she told the National Post she came away with valuable contacts in the entertainment industry. Other cast members were not so lucky: Joey Violin (his real name) has to return to a construction job, while Salem Moussallam’s Queen Street consignment store was recently vandalized.

• Controversial Toronto reality show Lake Shore scrapped [Toronto Star]
• Creator of failed reality TV show Lake Shore vows to be ‘more careful’ [National Post]

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