MUMBAI: The reality programming genre is spreading its wings beyond AXN and Reality TV. Hallmark, which claims to be the channel with emotions, is looking at this genre to add bite to its fare.
From this month, it has commenced airing Adoption, a 13-hour, four-episode series that sheds light on a seldom-discussed aspect of family life. The weekly airs every Wednesday at 8:30 pm.
The series producer and VP for production of Hallmark Entertainment is Leslie Bloch who says that the idea came from the experiences of Hallmark's President.
" We wanted to show inspiring human interest stories, programming that everyone could relate to. And our second goal was to be an informative resource for those people who are thinking about adopting" .
The series encapsulates search-and-reunion stories and experiences where adopted children looked for their birth parents and were reunited with them.
Besides making people aware of the facets of adoption the show avoids the sensationalistic, controversial elements that populate the likes of Survivor and Fear Factor. In this manner instead of showing people behaving in a disgraceful manner the show focusses on a more positive and holistic human experience, Adoption follows the travails and triumphs, the tears and trials of different families as they embark on a "complicated, emotionally charged" odyssey.
The divergent experiences of families in Guatemala, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Russia were tracked.
To lend gravity to the project Hallmark sought the assist of Screen Actors Guild President Melissa Gilbert who hosted the premiere episode, Gilbert was an adopted child herself.
In India, Hallmark is creating awareness about the show through cross promotional spot activity with MTV and Discovery.