MTV, a channel best-known for envelope-pushing reality fare such as “Jersey Shore” and “The Hills,” is turning its eye toward an unexpected subject: abstinence.

The youth-oriented network has ordered 12 episodes of a show that will track several 18- to 25-year-olds who never have had sex and are, according to the network, “plagued with the overwhelming question of keeping their virginity…or losing it.”

Last year, MTV considered launching a very different sort of reality show on virginity. Tentatively called “My First,” the program would’ve chronicled the path of those seeking to have their first sexual experience. The plans generated a great deal of controversy, however, and plans for the show eventually were shelved.(Entertainment Weekly)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife Wendy and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.