MTV Kills Controversial Teen Show 'Skins'

MTV said that they would not renew Skins for a second season after the show came under criticism for its racy teenage depictions of casual sex and drug use, especially with underage actors.

On January 17, the Viacom-owned cable network MTV aired a teenager-based drama Skins that became controversial as it violated some child pornography laws.

Due to the controversy, advertisers such as Taco Bell and GM fled from the show as television activist group the Parents Television Council filed a letter to the Department of Justice, asking them to bring a child pornography charge against the series.

The episode included all manner of foul language, illegal drug use, illegal activity as well as thoroughly pervasive sexual content. Moreover, future episodes promise much more of the same, Parents Television Council (PTC) said in a statement.

Now MTV has cancelled the show saying Skins is a global television phenomenon that, unfortunately, didn't connect with a US audience as much as we had hoped.

Skins was a North American teen drama, based on the British teen drama of the same name. The show premiered on Jan. 17, 2011 on MTV in the U.S. and on Movie Central and the Movie Network in Canada.

The original show was created by father-and-son television writers Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain for Company Pictures, and premiered on UK digital channel E4 on January 25, 2007. As with the UK series, the 2011 version featured a cast of amateur actors and young writers.

Even as the critics slammed the show, the series debut had 3.26 million viewers, with a 3.4 rating and 2.7 million viewers in the 12-34 demo, the most viewers in that demo for a show launch in MTV history.

However, its demo rating was down 55 percent from its lead-in, Jersey Shore, which drew 7.7 million viewers. The second episode dropped to 1.6 million viewers, with a 1.0 share and 1.4 million viewers in the key demo.

The third episode did not fare much better, dipping to 1.5 million viewers. Episodes 4 through 10 averaged about 1 million viewers, peaking at 1.2 million for episode 4 and hitting its lowest point at 0.962 million for episode 5.

However, writer Bryan Elsey defended the show's content as not controversial, but a serious attempt to get in the roots of young people's lives.