Monday, January 7, 2013

“The EWE Show”


On Friday, Entertainment Weekly magazine spilled the beans on the worst kept secret in Louisiana: former Governor and ex-con Edwin W. Edwards and his new, really young wife would be starring in an upcoming reality tv show.

Called “The Governor’s Wife”, although they married after Edwards was released from prison and 15 years after he was last Louisiana’s Governor, the show will follow Trina Edwards as she transitions into married life with the ex-con/governor and new stepmom to Edwards’ four children, including two daughters who are both 60+ themselves.

Picture a Louisiana octagenarian former governor ane ex-con meets "Honey Boo Boo". And, yes, that will be the first and last time that Honey Boo Boo is mentioned on ClickJefferson.com.

Trina, who is 35, and Edwards, 85, married in July 2011 after Trina began a pen-pal relationship with Edwards while he was in prison. Of course this begs the question: what is a 30+ year-old woman with two of her own kids, doing having any kind of relationship with a man in prison. Only in Louisiana and ready made for tv.

At least, ex-con/governor Edwards thought so.

Edwards has been pitching a reality show since before the pair was married. Reality producer Shaun Sanghani (a Tulane grad formerly involved in the energy business and Creator/Executive Producer of several reality shows including “Girls, Guns, Gators” and “Guardian Angels”, about the citizen crime fighters of the same name) has been travelling the country trying to sell cable nets on the project. Finally, A&E bit.

The show has been in filming since last year and Friday it was announced that A&E bought an initial run of 12 episodes that will premiere Wednesday, February 27th at 9pm CT.

A&E knows that Louisiana is fertile ground for reality shows. The 2nd season finale of Duck Dynasty drew a record 6.5 million viewers, making it the most watched A&E telecast of all time.

Edwards was always colorful and is known for his off-the-cuff quips. Regarding allegations of illegal campaign contributions, Edwards said, “It was illegal for them to give, but not me to receive”. When asked about his impending race for Governor against Dave Treen, Edwards said, “The only way I can lose this election is if I’m caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.”

And, who can forget Edwards reply to a reporter who asked what he had to do to win the 1991 Gubernatorial election against David Duke: “Stay alive,” Edwards said.

I’m sure that Edwards has been saving up his one-liner while he was in prison. Unfortunately, the nation will have yet another reason to laugh at Louisiana starting February 27th.