Okay, I wasn’t planning on watching this show, but stumbled on it last week as Catherine was pooped out from her vacation and I didn’t have to answer any questions or deal with any of those “What are you watching?!?” glances. And with all dating reality shows, watch at least the kickoff show to see what kind of crazies they’ve rounded up for the show.
This one’s got them. But they added the extra layer of moms to it. So you’ve got the guys that live at home and have their lives run by their mothers, but you also bring the overbearing mothers into the show. The show describes itself as the intersection between a mother’s wants for their son and their son’s own desires. Sounds cheesey, sure but it plays out nicely on the cameras.
There’s only been two shows so far, but here are some of the highlights:
- One of the mothers is a bit racist. Now, as Avenue Q has pointed out, in song even, we’re all a little bit racist, but we don’t all advertise it on TV. Even worse, we don’t all have it aired to a racially mixed group of people that we’ll be living with for the next X days. She’s gonna be a handful. One of the girls of color has decided to make her son, JoJo, her target. Because that would make the point so much better than just arguing with the mom. They have teasers for future episodes where the mom’s flying around in a helicopter with a TV feed of her son making out with this girl in a jacuzzi. The mom hits the window of the copter, causing the pilot to ask her to calm down. This show risks people’s lives!
- One of the girls is batty. The kind that laughs nervously non-stop, then cries, then laughs again. My favorite moments are when people leave the room and she shouts out something to them, laughing extra loud so they can hear, then letting the cameraman show her as the laugh dies down and she doesn’t know what to do next. Then remembers that the cameras are still around, so starts to laugh again.
- Another girl has been in Playboy and outed herself the first night of the show. But she was in Playboy in the 90s. Another girl saw the other girls reactions to that information (general disgust and holier than thou) and kept quiet about being the 2008 Penthouse Pet of the Year (find your own links). She’s been real sweet to the moms though and the moms are pushing her on their sons, but she is real low key. It’ll be interesting to see how the mothers’ attitudes will change when this bomb drops.
- The moms fight with each other. They are competing over girls for their sons, even though, so far, no son has really listened to their mom about who they should choose for the 1-1 date. The moms are actually upset with their sons’ choices even. So they take it out on each other, talking about how X would be better for their son. And of course, how their son would be better for X, when compared to the other son. I like the extra dimension to the reality show craziness that the moms introduce. I’m kind of afraid of, but also looking forward to, judging all the folks that Sal has an interest in. Or doesn’t have an interest in, as this show has shown me that’s fair game too. And also looking forward to the conversations with Catherine about who is good for Sal and why.
- Watching the guys try and listen to their mom, while they’ve got a girl that’s “just my type” wanting to go out on a date with them, is great. The moms know what’s going to happen. The guys know what’s going to happen. And I guess, depending on your perspective, it’s like watching a car wreck or a lion make a kill, or the symbiotic dance between fig tree and the fig tree wasps and nematodes. Yeah, we kick it with a little Nature in HD on Sunday nights too…
- Dana White, of UFC fame, came and ran the first “competition” for the women. They had to do the 11 minute UFC workout (no kettlebells though). And they did fine and looked good while doing it. Then the guys come in. They feel like they got something to prove as they go through the same workout. Two end up puking…their mothers next to them trying to soothe their egos as they puke. One of them needed medical attention cause his heart rate went up and blood pressure went down. One of the girls is studying to be a Doctor and the non-puking dude contestant is a firefighter, so they monitored his vitals till the paramedics came to whisk him away. Did I mention that this show risks people’s lives?!? Full disclosure as I mock those that throw up during workouts: I was perfectly happy being in contention for that “first to vomit” award at the fitness challenge, and who knows, if there were 22 women around in spandex, maybe I would have pushed myself to the point of throwing up…something to keep in mind at next year’s challenge.
- The selfless, afraid of loving cause love hurts, plain jane that went through a trashy girl make-over, that hides from the show by doing dishes all the time, girl got saved by the guys, but then, she was still too afraid to continue on the show, so she kicked herself off, leaving the girl that would have been kicked off asking if she could have a second chance with the guys. It was one of the better, confusing, emotionally charged and thoroughly mixed up, reality moments.
It does a great job of exposing all the expectaions and pressures that we inadvertently put on others in our lives. And watching people try and cope with those conflicting needs is very entertaining. I don’t think there are that many good actors to pull this off if it wasn’t real hurt/confusion/ignorance. Though maybe the guys from Joe Schmoe could make a decent try at it.
Probably all I could ask for would be to have this show on VH1 or Fox, where they’d really make it juicier.