Earlier this year, rapper T.I., under house arrest and about to be sentenced to federal prison, filmed an MTV reality show titled “T.I.’s Road to Redemption,” centering on his meeting with youth and trying to discourage them from lives of crime. It premièred at a crucial time for T.I. — 45 days before his March 2009 sentencing.

The show was not T.I.’s attempt to get a reduced sentence (he made a plea deal long before filming). It was, however, a public-relations move — the rapper trying to save face with fans before incarceration.

BET recently announced plans to roll out a show in a similar vein. “The Michael Vick Project,” according to the network’s website, will follow the fallen football superstar around on his own “road to redemption” as he comes to terms with and tries to rectify his dog-fighting past.

Let me be clear: This isn’t about Vick’s publicity. That’s not my point. Whether he’s just doing such things to regain the good graces of the public has been speculated to death.

My question is: Who benefits from this show, other than BET? The channel will benefit from a huge ratings increase, piggybacking a story that gained so much press coverage that it probably made Lindsay Lohan ask about Vick’s publicist’s rates. But will anyone else get anything from this show?

The viewer doesn’t. I’ll admit I watch the occasional episode of such shows as MSNBC’s “Lockup” and did catch an airing or two of “T.I.’s Road to Redemption” when it first aired. But is this really what our television-viewing choices are coming to? The lives of broken people chronicled for all?

I’d rather watch “I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here” or other dreck that circles the drain of the reality sewer. We viewers have nothing to gain from such shows as “The Michael Vick Project.”

It’s almost as if a new genre is taking form. To borrow from film, where critics decry the Saw series as “torture porn,” it looks as though such shows are nothing more than redemption porn — some sad bastard tries to put his life back together in front of the camera and the millions of people it represents. As television viewers, and as people, we should expect better.

The cyclical nature of TV programming aside, we don’t gain anything from such programming.

There is the entertainment factor, yes, but we should demand higher standards — entertainment that doesn’t come at the expense of someone else, entertainment that doesn’t capitalize on broken people for ratings.

We should know better than to watch this, and we should expect better programming because, on a personal level, this isn’t going to do anyone such as Vick any service.

“Jackass” star Steve-O attempted to put his life and failed rehab attempts on camera — even without a production deal — and the result was the destruction of a man. Not until the cameras were turned off did he finally sober up.

I suspect Vick’s case will be the same, minus the drug addiction. He worked his way back into football not by playing to the cameras but by serving his time, reflecting on what he did, and working to better himself — without an audience.

I don’t doubt whether revisiting his past will help Vick. I do doubt whether cameras capturing every moment will. Redemption is a personal journey. It is one that a person needs to make on her or his own, without the pressure of its being filmed.

I could be wrong. I’m sure people on A&E’s “Intervention” do pick up their lives, and maybe the kids on T.I.’s show did clean up their acts after talking with the rapper. But does this happen because it’s chronicled for millions of people to see, or in spite of that? I’m siding with the latter.

As consumers and, more importantly, as people, we shouldn’t encourage making a fetish of a person’s redemption and resurrection that shows such as “The Michael Vick Project” create. We’re better than that. And we should expect those who control television content to be better, too.