Michael Vick show to air on BET

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Michael Vick, trying to get his football career back on track with the Philadelphia Eagles, is to star in a TV series on his life.

BET plans to air the eight-part series in early 2010, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Producers say the series will be a serious one, looking at Vick's efforts to rebuild his life following his arrest for running a dog-fighting operation, his suspension by the NFL and his 18 months in federal prison. There has been no announcement of how much he will be paid.

"I just want people to really get to know me as an individual," Vick told the Times last week. "What I want to do is change the perception of me. I am a human being. I've made some mistakes in the past, and I wish it had never happened. But it's not about how you fall, but about how you pick yourself up."

Animal rights activists, already angry about Vick's contract with the Eagles, are not happy about the venture.

"People who abuse animals don't deserve to be rewarded," said Dan Shannon, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "They shouldn't be given multimillion-dollar contracts."