It’s been a busy week; and I suspect it will continue to get busier as I prepare for the release of Playing to Win– or at least I hope so! Before detailing those though, some thoughts on making all this work as a mom: On the day I did the two TV appearances described below, [...]
Today I woke up excited it was Friday– but then I realized I wouldn’t be getting a new episode of Cheer and I had to hit the snooze button to recover. Cheer, which has aired on CMT for the past six weeks, quickly became one of my favorite reality series, warming my normally analytical sociological [...]
Last Friday a feature story I wrote about the Maddy Verst custody trial appeared on Slate’s Double X. You may recall that I also wrote about the now six-year-old Maddy last fall after she appeared on the cover ofPeople. Like many others, including hundreds of pageant moms, I think the TLC series Toddlers & [...]
Kids and reality television are a popular, if controversial, mix. What happens when you add competition to the mix? The situation can become volatile. It seems that kids are appearing more often in what are “competitive reality shows,” as opposed to “candid reality shows.” What’s the difference? Candid reality shows, which would include the Real [...]
You’ve seen the four-year-old dressed up as Dolly Parton (complete with “enhancements”), right? And, of course, you’ve seen the images of the three-year-old dressed up as Julia Roberts’ prostitute character from Pretty Woman, haven’t you? Judging by the ratings for TLC’s fourth season of Toddlers & Tiaras, it seems you have. Each week over two [...]
It’s no secret that I love reality television. I don’t really discriminate, I pretty much enjoy it all, which is likely the ethnographer in me. Three new shoes that have entered my rotation are Coal (on Spike), Pregnant in Heels (on Bravo), and Extreme Couponing (on TLC). What could these very different shows possibly have [...]
Stage moms are taking over the airwaves– from Fox to TLC to E!. Should we be validating this type of (mis)behavior? 1. The American Idol Moms: If Toddlers & Tiaras was a reality show about 15-16-year-old (very talented) African-American singers I hope they make it far, as the moms are just so entertaining to watch. [...]
