Ty Watches "MILF Manor"

I mentioned a show awhile back that I was upset was being made, but said I would most likely watch it. That show is "MILF Manor", and I did in fact watch it last night. My wife recorded it, I was doing dishes and she mentioned that we had a surprise TV show to watch. I did not know what she was talking about because I had already forgotten about it. When I finished the dishes she showed me the show on our DVR and I just sighed and then laughed. She smiled and asked if I was ready. I was and we watched it.

This show is bad. It is very, very bad. I wanted it to be so much like "MILF Island" from "30 Rock". Unfortunately only one contestant got the memo of how absurd the whole thing is. Everyone else had some kind of story. One contestant spoke of her dead daughter. That was sad and felt unnecessary. Another lady talked about meeting her husband so young and "not being ready" for marriage. It just gave off vibes of a show that is actually trying to be a legit dating show. Again, this show has eight self proclaimed MILFs and they expect to meet young men that they can date, and, ugh, fall in love with.

When it is revealed, very early on in the pilot episode, that the men on the island are their sons, it doesn't land like it should. TLC didn't do this supposed "twist" justice. They just kind of played it off and moved on way too fast. Again, all eight of the women on the show have sons, ranging from 20 to 30, who like older women. They even ask a mother son duo about the show and they act as if this is all news to them. They are "shocked" by the fact that they are on the same island. I guess they each thought they were going on different dating shows on the exact same island. How stupid do you have to be? These people aren't that good at acting either. They don't sell the fact that they maybe knew what was going on before filming began. It is obvious when you see them doing interviews together. And after the whole mess of the meet and greet, they have their first challenge. This was some Oedipus level shit thought up by the masterminds behind this show. They had the moms wear blindfolds and made them feel up each male contestant. If they guessed which one was their son, they got the nicest room. Whoever guessed which body was their son's first got the nicest room. And each room got worse from there on down. Not that the rooms are bad, they just get less fancy the further down you finish. I mean, the whole idea of a mom not only feeling you up, but seven other young dudes. Come on, that is wild. I told my wife there is no way I would be comfortable with this if I were somehow duped to be on this show. And then to see these moms act the way they did, it is not a good look. They get way too drunk too fast. They openly hit on other moms' sons with no regard. The things that come out of some of their mouths are gross. I am as sex positive as it gets, but to hear a mom say that she has an "extremely high libido", knowing her son is going to watch, that is no good. To watch this one mom, the only one I feel got the memo about this show, tried to kick her son out of their room so she can have sex with another dude, and then tell her son to "stop cock blocking me", that was a bridge too far.

This show is bad. They do not have much of a story to go on. They are taking themselves far too seriously, especially considering the material. I am curious to see how long this show lasts, but I cannot imagine it will be around for more than a season. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't make it a full season. "MILF Manor" is bad, and what is worse, they aren't in on the joke. They think this is a real dating show, and not some messed up experiment being done by TLC. Oh well, let's see where it goes from here. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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"MILF Manor" Looks Terrible, and I Will Watch It

So I guess TLC is now just ripping off "30 Rock". I was scrolling through Google news last night and saw a new show that made me audibly guffaw. I then saw that the AV Club made the very same "30 Rock" joke that I just did(I wanted to give them their due credit). Anyway, TLC has a show coming out in January called "MILF Manor".

You read that right.

My wife and I had to immediately watch the trailer after I told her what I had just read. As we clicked on the link, I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. This show looks utterly ridiculous. It is pure nonsense. I swear, the powers that be at TLC are not even trying anymore. They are throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. I mean, this show is going to be insane. The preview shows all these mom's, who are as plastic as it gets, talking about their "extremely high libido". They are saying things that make me cringe. It is crazy. I am sex positive and all about sexual freedom, but that stuff happens behind closed doors. That is not my business, as it should not be. So for these "moms" to be doing it on national tv, it is wild. Then they show silhouettes of young guys. The guys are working out, surfing, hanging out at a pool and these "MILFS" are all for it. They cannot see anything but a shadow mind you. Then the preview says, "with one big twist", and all these "MILFS" faces drop. It is pretty clear that the dudes there are their son's and all these other "MILFS" will be boning down with these ladies' kids. It is too much.

TLC has gone too far. They don't even have original ideas anymore. Seriously, go back and watch the "30 Rock" episode with "MILF Island". It is the same thing. The only difference is the guys on "MILF Island" are eighth graders. That is the joke. It is such a nonsensical plot, and what better a show than "30 Rock" to bring that across. But someone at TLC, some higher up, some person in charge either doesn't know about this or doesn't care. "MILF Manor" is "MILF Island", except it is going to try to take itself seriously. It is going to try to be a dating show. They are going to try and have heartfelt moments. It is going to be a mess.

What makes me most angry at myself, I know I will watch, at the very least, two episodes of this show. I feel like I have to see this insanity to believe it. I want to see how it unfolds. I want to sit on my couch and openly bash the contestants to my wife. It is like a trainwreck that I cannot look away from. I hate myself for knowing this, but it is true. I am not going to lie and say I won't watch this. That isn't true. But this is a bad idea. This is not good television. I understand that reality shows, especially reality dating shows, are cheap. But this is too far. People who compete on shows titled "MILF Manor" do not need their 15 minutes of fame.

I wish I didn't care enough to write a blog about it today, but I haven't stopped thinking about the trailer since we watched it. I am part of the problem. I wish we had more creative people out there making cool and unique stuff. Shows like "The Bear" or "Atlanta" or "Joe Pera Talks With You". But we are talking about TLC here. This is the same channel that has given us "90 Day Fiance" and "Seeking Sister Wife" and "1,000 LB Sisters", all of which I have watched before. TLC is not about "learning" anymore. They are an entertainment channel. TLC is porn for dummies. It is akin to MTV still calling themselves "Music" television. It is just a name now. The name has nothing to do with the content. "MILF Manor" is going to be a tirefire. I do not think it will last a full season. And I am going to watch it. That is the most upsetting thing to me. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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"You, Me, and My Ex" is Adding to the Dumbening of Us All

20th Century Fox

I have talked about a good amount of shows I have watched on TLC.

It is painful.

TLC used to be a real channel. It used to legitimately teach people things. I would watch stuff on TLC and feel like I was actually learning. It was like school. Now TLC is just a cesspool of ridiculous reality TV. And yes, I still watch. I am getting a bit bored by some of the shows my wife and I watch. "90 Day Fiance" is becoming way too repetitive. So are the offshoot shows from the "90 Day" world. Another wild show we watch is "Seeking Sister Wife", where a married couple is looking to add another wife, which is surprisingly boring. I also find myself getting openly mad at the people on these shows. They are the worst of the worst in reality TV. They are starved for attention, and TLC is giving them an avenue to act like the wild and gross people they are.

The most recent show my wife had me sit down to watch takes the absolute crap cake. I wrote a while back about a show TLC had called "Hot and Heavy" that was nuts, this new show is worse. There have been things like "Sex Sent me to the ER" and "My 600 lb Life" that are flat out dumb. But this new show, "You, Me and my Ex", is the absolute worst reality show I have ever seen. This is the most scripted, contrite and stupid thing. When we watched the pilot, which will be the only episode I watch, I said to my wife that I wish I was a fly on the wall when this show was pitched. I wanted to see how wild that room was. I wanted to see if they just figured that fans of TLC will literally watch ANYTHING. I wanted to see if they all laughed. I wanted to see the people at TLC that actually think this show was a good idea. I wanted to be there for it all. I wish the higher ups at TLC would think about new shows, for at least five minutes, before greenlighting everything.

The "premise" of this show is about a few couples that live with their exes. Pretty straight forward. But then there is all this added drama. The fights are all very fake. The people on the show clearly just want to be on TV, to be seen. Their stories are insane. The fact that anyone would allow this to happen, and then film it, is crazy. I cannot believe it. I would never, ever want to live with one of my wife's exes. So I sure as hell would not want it filmed either. And the way this show tries to make us feel bad for the people on this show, I mean it is the most cliché thing I have seen. One guy had a bad illness, another couple broke up because they cheated on each other and the final couple is a bisexual guy with his former boss. It is so cliché, so hackey and so stupid. Watching this show I kept thinking about the principal's speech in "Happy Gilmore". You all know the one. Where he says, "all of us listening to you are all now dumber", that's the speech I'm talking about. That is how I felt during "You, Me and my Ex". I felt pretty god damn stupid after watching. I was not engaged or enlightened. I did not learn anything. I was just annoyed and angry.

This show is terrible and I do not recommend anyone watch it. I would also like TLC to go back and try to do something, anything that teaches their viewers. I'm sure they won't, but one can hope.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Hot and Heavy" Series Premier

I have talked many times on this site how I now enjoy reality TV, and how TLC has become a channel my wife and I watch a ton lately. We love a good "90 Day Fiance", my wife likes "My 600 Pound Life" and "Say Yes to the Dress", and she has even gotten me to watch a "Gypsy" marathon show every now and then. Last night we decided that we were going to watch their newest show together. We saw a preview for said show, and we were immediately intrigued and decided then that we would watch this show when it premiered. The show in question, it is called "Hot and Heavy".

So, for those that may not know, this show is about, and I LOATHE this term, "mixed weight" couples. And if you think that sounds absurd, you are very, very right. Anyway, this show is about guys that are supposedly in good shape that date women that are overweight, or in some cases, as one doctor put it, "morbidly, and grotesquely obese". Yes, this show is as insensitive as this minor description may have you thinking it is right now.

The couples, there are three of them, each have their own little 5 to 10 minute blocks where they talk about their "mixed weight" relationships. We have one couple where the guy, his name is Rusty, is married to his wife, I think her name is Trish, and she weighs around 330 pounds. This guy Rusty is a real piece of work. He says some pretty upsetting stuff to his wife, that he thinks is cute and fun. It is not. And in this premiere episode, when the wife decides to see a doctor about a possible weight loss surgery, the husband is so offended that she would do this without him, and he is very opposed to her getting the surgery to lose weight, Never mind the fact that she is a diabetic, and the surgery could help her live longer and conceive a baby. None of that matters to this moron. He wants her to stay big, no  matter what. This gentleman clearly has a fetish, but he won't admit it.

There is another couple, they are from Canada, and they had a baby after only 2 weeks together. I do have to say, for how absurd this show is, this couple seems to be legit in love. But, TLC definitely hired a couple of kids to yell at the lady while she is eating ice cream, and they even call her a cow and moo at her. I mean, this was totally unnecessary and rude and unneeded, but TLC had to find a way to manufacture some drama with this couple. They don't seem to really fit in with this show, and it seems like TLC is going to have to fabricate some stuff if they keep this couple on.

There is one final couple, that also seem genuinely in love, but all the outside people are real pieces of work. The guy and girl seem to have a solid connection, but the girl is always putting on a show when she meets new people. She amps up the personality, and it is a struggle to watch. As for the guy, well, his family and friends are very mean people, and they say some super hurtful things about his girlfriend. When he asks her to come out to meet his friends, every one of them, except the wife of another friend, were just awful. They gave her odd looks, they acted nice to her face but said some rude stuff behind her back and they just seemed artificial. The guy's family, especially his mom, were straight up rude, except his sister. His sister could care less what the girlfriend looked like, as long as he was happy. But the mom kept talking about how she used to be heavy, and how she doesn't want her son to have to take care of someone that is bigger than him. She came off extremely mean and nasty. It was upsetting.

All this leads me to say, I guess TLC is at a point now where they will make up some nonsense like "mixed weight" couples, and just slap it together and throw it on camera. This show was offensive to heavy people, was mean, is ridiculous, and didn't have to ever be made. But, TLC must have accomplished their goal because I am here talking about it today, I told my folks about it, I'm sure my wife is talking about it at work today and it was blowing up on social media last night. And I hate to say, I will most likely watch the rest of this season, and if it comes back, I will probably watch it again. It is unnecessary, but also kept my attention. That is embarrassing, but true.

I will watch "Hot and Heavy", I will complain about how people treat other people and that means TLC has won. They broke me.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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TLC Week: What is The Learning Channel Teaching us Today?

Finishing off my week long talk of all things TLC Network, I want to look back at what this network used to be, and what it has now become. I have spent all week talking about my love, and one dislike, of the "90 Day Fiance" "franchise". There are some misses, but more often than not, for me, hits. Big time hits.

When I was a kid, and a teen, and even an early adult, TLC used to be a channel that actually tried to teach people things. TLC stood for The Learning Channel. They would have TV shows that would be akin to a history lesson I would have gotten in high school. They did scientific shows. They had TV shows that were primarily shown in classes in school. They really leaned into being a channel for people to learn about things that they may not have known much, if anything, about. They tried to teach the viewer something, and more often than not, they achieved that goal.

That has all changed now.

This is not to say that I haven't "learned" anything recently. It is just the stuff I've learned is pointless, and how easy it has become to be on TV. TLC now shows pretty much nothing but scripted reality shows. There is a major range from what type of scripted reality shows they have now as well. I, or more likely my wife, will turn TLC on and we could watch anything from "4 Weddings" to "My 600 Pound Life". Both shows are trash reality TV, but do they really teach me anything of importance? No way.

What I have learned from the latest incarnation of The Learning Channel? I do know that when you put 4 brides in a room together, make them attend each others wedding and then let them judge one another, they will be absolutely ruthless. I also have learned that there are people out there that are much more addicted to food than I am, and they let it get to a point where they cannot even get out of bed, or bathe themselves. And they usually blame everyone but themselves. I don't mean to be rude or aggressive, but you can stop eating trash food. People do it everyday. I find myself never feeling sorry for the person that has gotten to 600 pounds or higher. I'm sorry, that is just how I feel. Drifting even further from these shows, TLC has gone as far to put a show on recently, within the past couple of years at least, called "Sex Sent Me to the ER". This show is absolutely fake, ridiculous and insane, yet very watchable. It is like watching a fun bad movie. The reenactments on "Sex Sent Me to the ER" are nuts. Sometimes they have the real doctor playing themselves, or they have actors playing them. They always have actors playing the people who end up in the ER, and they are ALWAYS much better looking than the real person, who is interviewed about their incident during the show. Besides getting much better looking people to play the patients, I have learned that some people will do some dumbass stuff while being intimate. The worst I ever saw was some idiot put his member in a grill on a campsite. I don't know how real that was, but the reenactment was hilarious and insane. I was floored.

To wrap this whole week up, TLC has very much changed what they set out to do from the start. I think they wanted to be an educational channel, and they tried, but it didn't work. So they pivoted to reality TV, a la what MTV and VH1 have done, and they are succeeding now. The shows may be much worse than what they tried to do at the start, but damn are they enjoyable. I will close it all out like I started the week. TLC is the trash reality network right now, and they are crushing it. We will see how long it lasts, but right now, I love it. My hat is off to TLC. Keep doing what you are doing while you can, because this won't last forever. Ride that wave TLC. And thanks for the never ending, trashy entertainment.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Years ago Ty learned how to make a fire from TLC. Today TLC teaches him how to make a fire…in the bedroom.

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TLC Week: "90 Day Fiance: Pillow Talk" is a Welcome Addition to the 90 Day Family

TLC has another one of the most useless, yet supremely entertaining shows currently on TV right now. That show is called "90 Day Fiance: Pillow Talk". Did you all think I was done with the "90 Day" off shoots? Think again.

"Pillow Talk" is essentially a re airing of the newest episode, but this time they have other couples from other "90 Day" shows come on and talk about what they are seeing while they lounge in their home, or the home of a relative. I absolutely love this. I was on the fence when my wife said we should check it out because I didn't want to watch the same show over again. But, it is so much more than that. It reminds me of when VH1 used to show "I Love The Insert Decade Here" shows, or something like "Pop Up Video". It just enhances what I've just seen only an hour ago.

For this first season of "Pillow Talk", they assembled some great past stars from whatever "90 Day" they were on. We get people like Tarik and Dean, who are hilarious. David and Annie, I can't believe I'm saying this, are wonderful, and I find myself agreeing with what David says most of the time. Darcey and her twin sister Stacey are on it, and they are feisty and fun and funny. They even brought Darcey's two daughters on one time, and that somehow worked.

The best couple on "Pillow Talk", by a thousand miles, is Lexi and Loren. They are the most fun, by far the funniest, they have the best reactions and interactions and they are so god damn adorable together. They crack me up, especially how low key Lexi is, and how amped up Loren gets. It works out almost too perfectly.

Anyway, the things that the couples, or relatives see, and to see their reactions, is totally worth your time. I have said a lot this week that my wife and I judge the people on these "90 Day" shows, and that is exactly what "Pillow Talk" does, except the people involved lived through it. They were on TV. They had their engagements and weddings and life after all that broadcast to the public. They know better than any of us what these people are going through. So, to see them react to this most recent season of "Happily Ever After?" is tremendous. The amount of jaws dropping is amazing. The guttural yells that have come from some people are hilarious. Dean is such a humongous fan of Chantel's, that any time she and Pedro get into a fight, he immediately takes her side, and takes it with a vengeance. He is great. As I said, David and Annie's reactions are golden. David actually seems to have gotten his act together, or he just likes to judge people, and Annie always makes some delicious food and gives her 2 cents, which is very informative. Loren has made some of the best faces during all the Colt, Larissa and Deb stuff. She is clearly aghast at what she is seeing, as we all are. Lexi will just sit there and eat food, but even he has sat up in their bed and dropped his jaw. Those moments are priceless. I love how Darcey is all about people breaking up, or getting their money. She has no bones about who she is, and she is proud to show that on "Pillow Talk". I think what I enjoy most about the show, outside of the fact that I get to see what these people snack on, is that it is a neat little wrap up. It is a nice after dinner show to watch and get full reactions to the insanity that was the episode of "Happily Ever After?".

I cannot help it, I really enjoy the hell out of this show. I was actually bummed when they didn't have a new "Pillow Talk" last week for the "Tell All". That would have ruled. To see the way the cast from "Pillow Tal" would have reacted to the Pedro and Chantel stuff, especially Dean, would have kicked ass. Maybe next time they will. But for now, as odd as this show sounds, I highly recommend, for fans of the "90 Day" universe, to check out "Pillow Talk". It is well worth your time.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. What does Ty Snack on when he is in bed watching “90 Day Fiance”? A big heaping bowl of chili of course.

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TLC Week: The Terrible Ideas, and Intriguing Couples of "90 Day Fiance: The Other Way"

Today I want to talk about another off shoot "90 Day Fiance" show. This one is called "90 Day...The Other Way". In this iteration people from America are going to live with their soon to be spouses in their home country.

This show rules. The Americans, for the most part, are the prototypical "stupid" Americans. They make us look like morons. But, that is what makes it so great. Also, the people leaving America, I feel zero sympathy for. Look, I despise this country right now, we are an absolute train wreck and we live in a waking nightmare, but that doesn't mean I am going to move, although Canada would be kind of dope. But, the people on this show are leaving to be with someone that they have online dated for, mostly, less than one year. Some of these people have only met face to face once, or some have only talked on Skype, but they are ready to uproot their entire life, and leave their extended family, to go live somewhere they have only ever been on vacation.

For example, there is this girl Devean from Salt Lake City, and she is ready to move to South Korea to be with her fiance Jihoon. Now, these 2 have met, and even been intimate. She is in fact pregnant with his child. This is part of why she wants to move there to be with him. She does have another young child who she is planning on bringing with her when she moves. I do need to say, I really like this Jihoon guy. He seems to be genuinely in love with Devean, and he wants to provide and his parents are cool as hell. What strikes me as odd though is all the things Devean is oblivious to with this move. There is one scene where she is talking to her folks, and she says, "wait, there is no ranch in Korea". It is hilarious. She is also leaving behind the people who help her with child care. Jihoon's parents came for a visit, and when her toddler was acting up, she just sent her over to her folks house. She just said she now realizes she won't be able to do that when she moves to South Korea. It is clear to me that she is impulsive, and she is very young. I do hope things work out for her and Jihoon because they do seem to be in love for real, but man is she just so very, very young. Also, I'm sure they have ranch, or something similar, in South Korea.

There is this other couple where the guy is moving to a small village in, I think, Brazil to be with his girlfriend. The girlfriend has openly told him that she doesn't want to get married or have kids, and that he should be the sole provider because that is what she expects. The guy, on the other hand, is a mama's boy, and he has done nothing but complain since he got to her hometown. He has griped about the car they own, the apartment they live in, their cooking supplies and the fact that they don't have a good internet connection. It took him about 2 days of living there before he started to complain about every little thing. He is such a whiner. Also, he has been there before, so he should have known what to expect. But, when he was there before, he was on a vacation high. He was staying in nice resorts that had everything he was used to having at home. Now that he has moved there, he is in way, way over his head. Also, I don't think this girl likes this guy clearly as much as he thinks.

There is one lady that is moving to Qatar to be with a guy that she married after she knew him for only 9 days, but she has reservations already. She also is leaving behind her best friend, but even worse, her only son. Their goodbye was absolutely heart breaking. She was his only family, that we the viewer know of, and she just left him. And now that she is in Qatar, she is complaining that her young husband is great in every way, except in the bedroom. She even brings stuff to enhance their bed room experience. He, of course, feels offended, but she could care less. She also has zero money left, and cannot get a job or make any kind of money until her Visa is secured. She clearly went to live there with no plan whatsoever. She is also in her early 50's, so you'd think she knows better.

Then we have a 60 year old grandma who is moving to India to be with her 30 year old fiance, who's parents do not approve of this union, and want him to live at home. These 2 are a total mess. She left behind all her grown children, and grand children, on a whim. She also quit her job and blew all her savings. And when she got to India, her boyfriend did not pick her up for a few hours. The boyfriend has not told his parents that he is living with his girlfriend, his friends think he is nuts, he quit his job and moved to Mumbai so he could be away from his family to be with her and they are now running out of money. I will say, he loves her, and she loves him. But, what I failed to mention until now, this whole relationship started as a catfish, and turned into what it is now. Next week he is actually going to tell his parents about her, and I cannot wait to see what happens.

Finally we have a couple that started out on "Before the 90 Days", and has been around forever. I'm speaking of Paul and Karine. Karine is young and wants a better life. Her parents are great, and she just wants to be taken care of. Paul is a god damn mess of a human being. He carries around a lock of his mother's hair. He is terrified of bugs and dirty water, and he goes to extreme measures to avoid all of this in the Amazon. He has a vast criminal record. He has no money. He cannot keep a job. He packs military grade boxes with junk to go and visit Karine. He has used the term "poop water" on several occasions. He has been accused of terrorism. He is a complete and total mess. He has asked Karine to take several pregnancy and STD tests, even though she has been nothing but faithful to this disaster of a person. He is the type of guy that, for sure, voted for this current administration, and will do so again in 2020 when he inevitably gets deported back to America. Paul is a dip shit and an idiot. I feel zero sympathy for him because he is so dumb and ignorant.

Even though I am dumping on these people, this show is extremely enjoyable. It is so much fun to judge and make fun of these people. There is another couple, where a very intelligent and level headed woman has moved to South Africa to be with her gambling addict fiancé, but honestly, they seem pretty normal and happy. They are the only "good" couple on the show. I am actively rooting for them. But, I highly recommend this show for TLC fans and fans of the "90 Day" ouvre. It is fun, a little different and trashy reality TV at its best. Check it out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty cannot imagine moving to another country for someone he just met. He had a hard time moving two towns over to be with a girl he had known for years.

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TLC Week: "The Family Chantal" is a Rare Trashy Miss for the Network

Continuing with my week long quest to write about TLC reality shows, last night they premiered "The Family Chantel", a "90 Day Fiance" spinoff show. I have to admit, I was excited to watch. I tried to play it all cool with my wife, like I wasn't stoked to watch the show, but I was. And after seeing the "Tell All", and how they interacted all season long on "Happily Ever After?", I assumed this was going to be one of the wildest, dumbest and most bizarre things on TV. Even the commercials made it seem this way.

Unfortunately, it wasn't wild at all. Actually, it was kind of boring, and seemed pointless. "The Family Chantel" kind of feels like TLC decided to take a shot, since they are owning trashy reality TV right now, but this was a total misfire. By the halfway point of the premier, I was already looking at stuff to buy on Amazon on my phone. I have been making a conscious effort to stay off my phone while watching shows because I want to really focus on what I am seeing. But, "The Family Chantel" was far too boring, and it just couldn't keep my attention. The same thing can be said for my wife. She was laying on our love seat watching, and she would get up to brush her teeth during the show, she got up to take her vitamins, she just kept getting up and down, and to me, that is a sign that she too is bored.

We both said, near the end, that the show was not what we were hoping, and expecting. Instead of drama and stupidity, it was literally watching a married couple struggle due to family issues. It was, at times, kind of sad. I felt bad for Chantel and Pedro because their families hate one another, and that has to be really hard when you are married. Now, these families go to the extreme, suggesting divorce, bringing tasers to their daughter's home, taking twerking classes, deflecting their problems onto siblings, pretty much cliché reality TV stuff. But, even that cliché stuff was boring. The whole taser scene should have been great, but it wasn't. The fact that Chantel's mom brought a taser, then threatened to use it, should have been great. But, it fell flat.

I think part of the problem is Chantel's mom is expecting to become a famous TV personality. The reality though, she is a horrible actress, and this "character" she is portraying on the show is very dull. She is the prototypical overbearing mom, but I have seen better on shows like "Flavor of Love" or "The Real World". She is not that good. Pedro's sister is the same. She is the villain, but again, she is predictable and not a good actress and played out. I've seen her do all the stuff on "The Family Chantel" that she does on "Happily Ever After?". It is lame. Chantel's brother River seems like he doesn't want to be there. And the same for her sister Winter, who is the only good thing about this show. She is the only real person on it. Even when the episode ended, and they showed the coming up this season stuff, nothing really grabbed me. This is where the show is supposed to get the viewer back, make them want to watch more, but it was more of the same.

Look, I know that the two families don't like each other, I know that Chantel's family does not like visiting the Dominican Republic, I know that Pedro and Chantel fight all the time, I know that Lydia, Pedro's mom, blames Chantel's family for her son's attitude. I have seen it all already on "Happily Ever After?" and "Before the 90 Days".

I commend TLC for going for it, but this just doesn't work. We took the show off our DVR after the premiere was over, and said the only way we'd watch it again is on a lazy Sunday if TLC is running a marathon, and nothing else is on. This was an unexpected dud, and it bums me out that it wasn't as wild and ridiculous as I hoped. Oh well, at least I still have all the other iterations, of which I will touch on this week, of "90 Day Fiance". But, "The Family Chantel", for fans of this, is a miss in my opinion.

Ty

TLC Week: The Awesomeness of "90 Day Fiance" and the Fallout of the "Tell All"

This week I'm going to talk specifically about shows on the TLC network. I have no bones about the amount of shows I watch on this network. I have also talked about some shows they put on that look disgusting. I have pleaded to anyone that will listen to me how they definitely need to change the name of the channel because the only thing I have "learned" from the learning channel is that anyone, and I mean anyone, can be on a reality show.

That leads me to what I want to touch on today. I love the show, and all its iterations, "90 Day Fiance". TLC has also learned that this is their biggest cash cow, and they have started to show the show in 2 and 3 hour blocks, and they even have 2 different versions on Sunday and Monday. TLC knows that this is their "hit" show, and they are milking it, as they should.

Last night was the "Tell All" for the most recent season of "90 Day Fiance: Happily ever After?", love the question mark in the title by the way, and it was mesmerizing. I know that this is vapid and stupid and content for the sake of content, but I was very intrigued by what I watched with my wife last night. I need to say too, the last hour of the 2 hour show was the "Tell All". The first hour was dedicated to one of the worst, which means they were one of the most fun to watch, couples on this recent season.

The couple in question are Colt and Larissa. Colt is clearly in love, like for real, with his mom, and Larissa has been in the US for 7 months and has been arrested for domestic assault 3 times. It is a real train wreck, and I literally cannot look away. I loathe these 2 people, but they make for great reality television. All the stuff that went on, from the trail, to Colt's mom telling him how awful his ex wife is, to Larissa living with a new friend, getting a new boyfriend and being asked to stay home for the trial because of ICE, it was all tremendous TV. It is like a drug that I know the effects will wear off soon, but right now, I am hooked. The Colt and Larissa special was wonderful and disturbing and weird and everything I hoped for. My wife and I judged everyone, and isn't that what reality TV nowadays is all about? It was great.

Then the "Tell All" came on, and let me tell you, it was something else. The yelling and fighting and stupidity and lying and ignorance was at an all time high. Some of the couples, mainly Pao and Russ and Andrei and Elizabeth, fans of the show will know who I am talking about, didn't really have to be there. But, the stuff between Jay and Ashley was great. Jay is a 20 year old from Jamaica that has cheated on his wife Ashley 2 times that we know of. He is a scumbag, but she is an idiot. She took this dude back twice after he did this stuff, and I am supposed to feel sorry for her? Get the hell out of here. Colt was there by himself, because he will be alone forever, and he just berated and yelled at everyone. He is a sad, sad, sad man. Larissa didn't even want to be in the same room as him, so she didn't go to the "Tell All", opting to call in via Skype. Nicole was really unnecessary last night, but I feel like something big is going to happen between her and Azan next week.

The cream of the crop that was this train wreck was Pedro and Chantel. It has been widely shown that the 2 families do not get along. They despise each other so much, TLC is doing a spinoff show about that which premieres tonight. Don't worry, my review will be up tomorrow. But the way these 2 interact with one another is toxic. It is really, really bad. Pedro always "jokes" about leaving Chantel, and Chantel is so god damn condescending. It is wild. When Chantel's parents came on, that was when it went from a 10 to an 11. Pedro kept leaving the stage, and then coming back to yell at her mom and dad. The mom and dad are as condescending as Chantel is towards Pedro. It was crazy lit, the way they yelled over one another and fought last night. My wife and I both watched, first in laughter, then in horror and then in sadness for how messed up they all are.

This 2 hour block was a total homerun last night. I say again, I know I shouldn't watch this stuff, but I am hooked, and I don't feel that bad about it. Reality TV is supposed to be like this, and TLC has really found a groove with the whole "90 Day" stuff. My dad hat is off to them.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Was he describing an episode of “The Jerry Springer Show”? That is what the head editor thinks Ty was describing.

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Ty Watches "90 Day Fiance" Season Premier

A show that I’m pretty certain I’ve talked about on the site before came back this past Sunday night, and boy oh boy did they up the ante.

I have said many times that my wife has gotten into the whole reality TV craze, and one of our favorites, “90 Day Fiancé What Now?”, is back. This show is great because it’s so bad. It’s so poorly acted, and yes, these people are trying to be actors. I know it’s “reality” TV, but we all know now that it’s all scripted. “90 Day Fiancé What Now?” is “The Room” of reality TV. It started out as a look inside the K-1 Visa process, but now it’s blossomed into an insane portrait of couples that should not be together.

When the show first came out, it wasn’t as wild as it is now, and this newest season, they got some of the craziest and unstable people that they’ve ever had on the show. They took the worst of the bunch, making it the most gripping, I use that term very, very lightly, and engaging season so far. I mean, the couple that live in Vegas with the man’s mom, they’re nuts, in all the best reality TV ways. Since we last saw them, the wife may get deported, she flushed her wedding ring down the toilet, they got a new cat, the guy is even creepier than before and the mom is even more stressed out. We have the couple where the guy got a Tinder account only days after he was married to his girlfriend, who broke off 2 previous engagements because of infidelity. When these 2 are on screen, it’s so cringeworthy. It’s all fighting, the young guy trying to justify his scumbag decision, and the wife leaving him to walk home on the side of the road. We get the couple with the husband that legit looks like The Penguin, and is subjecting his wife to living in a storage unit, with no stove. Every time they interview her, I swear she wants to scream out, “help!, I’m a prisoner”. She looks so unhappy and uncomfortable. She’s also so bored, she’s taking an ESL class taught by her husband. The most “normal” couple is the one that lives in North Carolina, but we find out very soon that they aren’t together anymore, and then they flash back to 3 months prior. The husband is terrified to move, and the wife wants to become an actress and thinks Chicago is the best place to achieve this goal. She is also 20 and very much acts that way. The husband also gives off a real peaked in high school vibe.

But the best, at least so far, is the couple that lives in Atlanta. They’re a real mess. The wife’s family wants to hire a PI to investigate the husband. The husband started a huge fight with the wife’s family that he won’t own up to. They constantly bicker and fight. They can’t seem to agree on anything. The wife’s family is super duper crazy. The husband seems like he could be running a scam. It makes for great reality TV.

After the episode was over, we got a coming up on thing, and they’re going to bring back some classics for viewers of this ridiculous dumb, but addicting show. I cannot wait. Also, the premiere episode was 2 hours long, followed by a “where are they now” hour long show. That’s great. TLC knows what they have in this show, and they’re capitalizing on its popularity right now.

I literally cannot wait to see the next episode, and the whole season for that matter. I know it’s bad she dumb and pointless and predictable, but damn do I love “90 Day Fiancé What Now”. Check it out if you just want a hilarious escape for a few hours every week. It’s a delight.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is waiting for TLC to do a show about thoughtful people who get married. It can be called 900 Day Fiance.

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TLC has Gone too Far with "Dr. Pimple Popper"

No, no, no

My wife and I watch a good amount of reality shows together. I never used to watch many, save for "The Real World", prior to meeting her. She has turned me onto these shows. They are trashy and goofy and ridiculous and I simply cannot find myself looking away. Hell, I even go as so far to pass judgement on the people that are on the shows. I have many opinions on other MTV reality shows like "Teen Mom" and "Teen Mom 2". I have let it be known how I feel about "16 and Pregnant". I enjoy a good cooking competition show. I also like stuff like "Trading Spaces". I truly think it is a very unique show.

Recently my wife has really gotten me into the plethora of reality shows that TLC has to offer. Now, TLC used to be good for teaching a lesson, or teaching me something new that I never knew before. But, much like MTV, TLC has totally changed their lineup. They are now focused on stuff like people getting married to people they met overseas on a show like "90 Day Fiance". I, no bull shit, enjoy the hell out of that show. It is insane and hilarious and wacky. The people are wild. The stuff they say is absurd, and I love every minute. I also enjoy all the off shoots they now have of "90 Day Fiance". Stuff like "Before the 90 Days", and "Happily Every After?" are just as much fun. I also find myself fascinated by shows like "Seeking Sister Wife". That show has me totally flabbergasted the whole hour, and I have so, so many questions when it is all over. I feel like that is their goal, and they nail it. Also, after reading books about the LDS church, and seeing a play like "Book of Mormon", I find that whole "religion" hilarious. So, to see these wackos talk about being in a plural marriage as "God's plan" makes me crack up every time.

Lately TLC is really staring to push the limit for what I can see before I get physically ill. One day I saw my wife watching a show on TLC called "Sex Sent me to the ER". While I thought it would be a laugh riot, it was more terrifying than I could have imagined. People getting stuff stuck in other stuff, or being attacked, or passing out or any manner of craziness that could happen, happened, and it was so scary.

Then, one night while eating dinner, I had to ask my wife to turn off a show on TLC called "My 600 Pound Life". This show is about people that weigh close to, or over 600 pounds, all due to their food cravings. I like food as much as the next person, but the way they showed these people get this heavy was upsetting. To see all the food they ate was outrageous. And to see them eat it all, that made me sick. I could not eat my dinner when she watched it. I told her that I thought I was going to get sick. She thought I was joking. I was not. This show made me ill. It was just so upsetting and gross, I couldn't handle it. I still cringe when she turns it on during the weekend.

But the other night I think she finally found the GROSSEST thing on basic cable. She had Monday off of work, and she couldn't fall asleep on Sunday night. So, she turned on TLC and a show called "Dr Pimple Popper" was on. Now, I had seen this lady on "Tosh.0" when I still watched that, and her little segment on that made me sick. But, what I saw, for maybe 5 minutes, made me really, really think I was going to throw up all the food I had eaten that day. This doctor has a gift of removing pus filled pockets that people have on their bodies. But, the way they show it getting done on the show is nuts. The poor people on this show too, I felt so bad for them. They have lived with these random pimples and pocks and just, again, pus filled sacks, usually on their faces. I saw Dr Pimple Popper pop some stuff on a lady, she had a bunch of bumps on her eyes, and it made me sick. I mean, just typing it is making me sick. So, after I saw that I told my wife I couldn't watch anymore. I rolled over in bed and just listened. And then the worst thing I could have imagined happened. Apparently a guy had a big boil on his forehead, and when Dr Pimple Popper popped it, she said, and I quote, "it looks like mashed potatoes that had too much water added to them". Oof magoof. That is DISGUSTING. Even my wife, who legit enjoys that stuff, said it was one of the most disgusting things she had ever seen. I feel like I have a pretty high tolerance for gross stuff. I have no problem with gore and horror stuff. I don't mind it. But "Dr. Pimple Popper" is a whole other level of nastiness. I honestly do not know who this show is for. I don't know who sits around and waits to watch this on Sunday nights. It is the grossest thing I have ever seen on TV, and I hope to never watch it again. I have no problem with what this doctor does, in fact, I applaud her for helping people. But, I do not ever want to see it on my television ever again. It is crazy.

I do not recommend “Dr Pimple Popper”, unless you want to be completely grossed out. It is nasty.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is all about learning about not knowing your pregnant, tiny houses, and any other of life’s important problems. Weird bodily fluids, that is not what Ty wants to learn about.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.