It's All About the Casting

I want to say that NBC hit the jackpot with the casting of a bigoted Momma on their new show Momma's boys, but I'm sure NBC knew exactly what they were doing. Why else is the house chalk full of Asian and black woman for the three white momma's boys in question? Usually the bachelor has about three minorities that are quickly sent home. One will make it through a couple episodes, but just for the sake of saving face.

Let's start from the beginning. I was wrong about the setup. NBC actually let everyone know the 411 from the start. 32 women are brought to live in a house and fight for the attention of three momma's boys: Michael, Joe and Robert. Their moms will be living in the house with the ladies to help find their sons the perfect woman that will eventually become their daughter in law. I'm not sure if the moms have ever seen a reality show, because 19 times out of 20, the couples don't even make it to the reunion.

NBC reveals that the producers purposely chose stereotypical women that moms love, such as a kindergarten teacher or medical student. Then, there is the 2008 Penthouse pet of the year, and a girl that decides to pick Jojo just to get at his mother, but I'll get back to that.

The girls are just like any other batch of Bachelor women. There's Megan who works at an animal shelter and has trouble talking to humans, Cara the dumb blonde that everyone makes fun of, Misty likes to make trouble and then a bunch of models/spokesmodels that I'll never be able to differentiate.

First we meet the dudes - and they are dudes. Michael is a blonde firefighter and his mom looks quite lovely for whatever age she is. They live in Florida, but somehow, like the others, sport a Long Island accent. Robert is the funny Jew of the group, and he isn't quite as handsome as the others. I'm sorry, he isn't. It has nothing to do with his religion; there are plenty of hotty Jews out there. I guess to find a funny guy that might have a personality, they had to go with somewhat goofy looking. His mom Esther is the typical Jewish mom in New Jersey. I forgot already what Robert does for a living.

Then we get to Jojo. He is the stud of the group and currently plays hockey in college. I guess this was taped during summer break? Jojo's mom, Mrs. B., is madly in love with her son and points out his hot physique and gorgeous lips in an eerie manner. She then informs the camera that her son will not be dating any Jews, blacks, Asians, tall girls or girls with a big butt. Clearly she is very open minded.

Did I mention that all of the boys still live with their moms? Well, they do - every girl's dream!

The ladies hang out and get to know each other, at which point everyone decides Cara is a dummy because she is blond and happy. Some of the get weepy over thinking about finding their true love in just a few hours. One girl reveals she was in Playboy, while the Penthouse gal doesn't want to come clean just yet. At one point she is proud of her 2008 title, and the next scene she is ashamed. Which is it? You can't have it both way. All the while Megan spends her time cleaning up after all the other girls. All of a sudden, the boys arrive! The girls giggle together and hop over to meet the boys. We still have yet to discover if any of the guys have a personality.

Next, the girls watch videos made by the moms. All the moms are so cute! Until they get to Mrs. B's tape. She has no problem reiterating the fact that she only wants the perfect, cute, white, Catholic girl for her little baby Jojo. Needless to say, all the girls are pissed. One girl notes that even Cara is pissed, so it's a really big deal. Misty decides that she will go for Jojo just to make Mrs. B mad. This is her mission! Silly me, I thought the girls were supposed to go on the show to find their perfect mate. Guess that's not the case for Misty.

The moms enter the house and everything is fine, until (don don don), Mrs. B enters! She ignores most of the girl, choosing to talk to one who she pegged as possibly Catholic. When the girl reveals she is half Jewish, Mrs. B moves on. This goes on for a while until Mrs. B has cornered two African-American women and asks if they are basketball players. This is the last straw for one of them, Vita, who chooses to reveal that all of them know about what she said on the video and they are not pleased. Mrs. B tells them she doesn't care and doesn't have to answer to them, which really is sort of true. Vita says that she is a military nurse and helping those critically injured in Iraq (where Mrs. B is actually from). Vita points out that she is there to help Mrs. B's people. Mrs. B just says that her skin is darker than Vita's, and inserts that fatal word: Bitch. Now we have to wait until next week.

On the whole, this show is the same as the Bachelor, but there is the added layer of the moms, and then another layer involving the racism factor of Mrs. B. I want to see how the Vita/Mrs. B smackdown ends, so I'll give it another week for sure. However, I don't know if I'll make it through this puppy for the long haul. I don't have any favorites right now, because at this point they all seem pretty much the same. I do think Maisha is gorgeous, but I'm guessing she won't make it very far.

I just have one question: why are all the guys white?