Little known fact about infamous boxer Mike Tyson: one of his favorite hobbies is breeding and raising pigeons. He's always had an affinity for one of the world's most underrated birds, and has fond memories of raising them as a child. In a world crying out for quirky and unusual hobbies that can be packaged and broadcast on television, the only obvious thing to do was to make a TV show on Animal Planet about it. Which sort of makes us picture Mike Tyson in a khaki outfit like Tracy Morgan's famous Saturday Night Live sketch, Brian Fellow's Safari Planet, but that's neither here nor there. Tyson has decided to kick things up a notch, and on the show he won't only be breeding and raising pigeons, but also racing them on the competitive circuit. We didn't realize that was even a thing, but whatever. All the fancy editing in the world can't hide the fact that this is just a fairly transparent attempt to soften Tyson's image, and try to make people forget about the fact that he bit a dude's ear off and spent three years in prison for rape. Pigeons are magical creatures, to be sure, but they can't quite do that.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
