Press
Sep.
15, 2010
FOX
LOOK INKS FORMAT DEALS
Company pacts with Piligian, Glassman, Sternberg, Satin
LONDON -- Fox Look, the new unit of Fox Networks Group dealing in the international licensing and production of unscripted programming, has signed distribution agreements with four Emmy Award-winning U.S.-based format producers.
They are: Craig Piligian, exec producer of Syfy's "Ghost Hunters" Andrew Glassman, founder of the Los Angeles-based shingle Glassman Media, Scott Sternberg, a specialist in gameshow, talkshow and reality fare, and Scott Satin, whose credits include NBC's "Who Wants to Marry My Dad?."
Under the agreements, Fox Look will represent selected formats.
The outfit's prexy David Lyle said: "These are some of the hottest names in Hollywood and their formats are among the most successful shows in the U.S.
"We are positioning Fox Look as a 'distributor that sells like a producer'. This is proof positive that our approach resonates with the creative community."
Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com.
Sep.
18, 2009
FOX
REALITY CHANNEL AND GLASSMAN MEDIA SET OUT TO FIND A PERFECT
MATCH FOR INTERNET SENSATION CINDY MARGOLIS
LOS ANGELES, CA – Fox Reality Channel is set to begin production
and casting for its newest original series, The Cindy Margolis
Dating Project (working title). The dating show features
Cindy Margolis, America’s sexiest cougar, who gained fame for
being the most downloaded woman on the internet, and a 2008 Playboy
celebrity cover
model. Produced by Glassman Media, the show begins production in
early June.
Over the course of eight, one-hour episodes, the newly-single Margolis
will put her heart on the line, with a variety of potential partners,
to find her ultimate soul mate. The suitors will range from the suave
and sophisticated to the self-confessed “internet nerds”,
who catapulted her to mass popularity and fame.
“
Fox Reality Channel is pleased to present the network’s first
original dating show, that will take viewers on the exciting, emotional
and potentially intimidating journey of finding love over 40,” said
Noel Siegel, VP Development and Production for Fox Reality Channel. “Millions
of men have downloaded Cindy Margolis photos, but only one can win
her heart.”
“
I am thrilled to join Fox Reality Channel for this unique and sensational
next chapter in my life,” said Cindy Margolis. “My fans
have been incredibly loyal and supportive over the years, so I am
taking the leap of faith that one of them is also the love of my
life. I am ready to be swept off my feet, and looking forward to
all the incredible reality along the way.”
Dec.
30, 2008
NBC
Universal - Media Village
NBC highlights for the week of December 22-28:
* On Monday, the two-hour Monday debut of "Momma's Boys" grew dramatically
from its first half-hour to its fourth, increasing by 50 percent
in 18-49 rating. In its final hour from 10-11 p.m., the new unscripted
series earned NBC its highest 18-49 rating and total viewer result
in the slot in seven weeks, ranking #1 in adults, men and women
18-34 and finishing within 0.1 of a rating point of the lead in
adults 18-49.
Ratings reflect "live plus same day" data unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date figures are averages of "live plus seven day" data except for the two most recent weeks, which are "live
plus same day."
Additional NBC highlights for the week of December 22-28:
Monday from 9-11 p.m. ET, "Momma's Boys" averaged a 1.7/5 in adults 18-49 and 5.0 million viewers overall. "Momma's Boys" grew
substantially from its first half-hour to its fourth, increasing by
50 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 2.1/6 from a 1.4/4) and by 19 percent
in total viewers (to 5.5 million from 4.6 million).
For its second hour, from 10-11 p.m. ET ("Momma's Boys'" regular time period starting this week) the new unscripted series earned NBC's highest 18-49 rating and total viewer result in the time period in seven weeks (since the "Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash 2008" special on November 3). In its final hour from 10-11 p.m., "Momma's Boys" ranked
#1 in adults, men and women 18-34 and finished within 0.1 of a rating
point of the time-period lead in adults 18-49.
Dec.
16, 2008
Washinton Post: Babes + Moms = Mother Of All Guilty Pleasures
By
Tom Shales
Based on the title and the profuse
promos that NBC has been airing, "Momma's Boys" might
not sound like a bold step for reality programming, but it is.
The
problem: deciding whether it's a bold step up -- or down.
Perhaps it is merely a bold step sideways,
but whatever, "Momma's Boys" is truly and sometimes horrifically
fascinating, a deluxe example of sumptuous trash
that takes the concept of "guilty pleasure" to a new extreme. Whom
will this appeal to? Only everybody.
Executive-produced by self-proclaimed wonderboy
Ryan Seacrest, "Momma's Boys" has, like most reality
shows, a primal sort of premise, with enough gimmicks to
allow for maximum manipulation. The show gets off to a roaring start with tonight's premiere; sparks fly, tempers flare and eyes fill with tears. Everything that makes alterlife worth alterliving in the alterworld of reality TV is represented and overdone.
The setup, rife with prurient possibilities:
Thirty-two attractive women are sequestered in the typical lush
and lavish reality-show mansion (this one in Santa Barbara, Calif.)
along with three single men in their 20s, each an admitted "momma's boy" --
with at least one of them, age 25, still living at home with mom.
From among the women, the men will chose a romantic ideal, with
the very important caveat that mom is right there under the same
roof, and isanything but reticent about expressing opinions. Perhaps
because this is Southern California, the median attractiveness
level of the women is very, very high. One contestant says with
a bit of a blush that she was Penthouse magazine's Pet of the Year
for 2008. Blondes abound, and bounteous breasts bob about in bikinis.
The show does not lack for visual stimulation. What elevates it way over the top, however, is the presence of a nightmare momma from hell who not only reveals her true colors but also flies them in a flag. Each mother and son made an introductory video for the women to watch prior to the moms' arrival. One of them, mother to a young man named
Jojo, comes right to the point when describing the girl she wants for sonny-boy:
No blacks, no Asians, no Jews, no Muslims, and nothing on the order of
a "fat-butt girl." Momma, who herself looks like a wide pink planet when she arrives at the mansion, declares: "It has to be a white girl . . . just like me. Just like Momma . . . A nice Catholic girl who's not from a divorced family." Casting an eye toward a blonde who wept copiously when, earlier, she discovered a broken heel on one of her shoes, a contestant with the exotic name of Misty Alli says of the racist mom, "Even the dumbest people knew how ignorant this
was." In its way, this serves as a good argument for not excluding
Jojo's mom from the show -- virtually everyone will recognize her rantings
for what they are.
The young women plan to play it cool when this momma arrives and to pretend they haven't seen the video, in effect giving the mom a chance to sound like something other than a bigot. One of the contestants can't contain her anger, however, and when she lashes out at Momma, mean old Momma lashes right back. She defends her remarks and then some. She's amazing, in a loathsome sort of way.
All the mothers are generous with praise for
their sons and, by implication, for how they raised them. "He has a great body, he really does," says the mother of a contestant named Michael. Jojo's mom is naturally even more effusive: "My son is gorgeous, he's perfect -- good teeth, great personality. . . . Everybody loves him." She
confesses that she'll sometimes try to scare off a girl she considers
undesirable by telling her that Jojo is gay.
If you wrote this character into a movie or play, would anybody believe it?
Reality shows rise or fall on the strength
of the casting, the chemistry among contestants, and on this level, "Momma's Boys" hits
a bull's-eye. The
contestants are like characters in an old Hollywood movie who represent a whole range of human foibles and strengths. There's even a girl with a librarian
sort of look, thin and shy, and when she takes off her glasses, viewers
might want to say, "Miss Jones, you're beautiful!" -- as
in many a movie from
yesteryear. Nobody does say it -- not tonight, anyway -- but don't rule it out. There's not much that can be ruled out as the show continues through the weeks ahead. As on the other reality shows of this ilk, there's an elimination ritual at the ends of many episodes in which one or more contestants are sent home. In roughly edited scenes from a future such segment, there's enough weeping and wailing for a year's worth of daytime soaps. We know it's exhibitionistic, voyeuristic, calculated and sometimes cruel, but at this point, who would have it any other way?
"Momma's Boys" has something for nearly
everybody: men, women, mothers, fathers, hetero- and homosexuals, people
who are single and married and divorced --
everybody who's up for a good, or bad, Freudian-Oedipal romp. Will you hate yourself in the morning? To para phrase an old Rodney Dangerfield joke, you may
hate yourself tonight! But somehow, it'll be worth it.
Momma's Boys (one hour) debuts tonight at 10 on Channel 4.
Dec.
11, 2008
WSJ.com
- A Word On Momma's Boys
By
Dorothy Rabinowitz
A word on "Momma's Boys" -- the new contest involving the hopeful, the hapless and the deranged (begins Tuesday, 10-11 p.m. EST, on NBC). Here 32 women packed into a Santa Barbara mansion await a competition for the good will and sympathy of three mothers there to oversee which of these lucky women is worthy of marriage to their sons. The first episodes introduce a lovely contestant who has, she sweetly allows, done jail time, nothing violent. Better by far, a mother who announces she will tolerate no blacks, Asians or Jews as a daughter-in-law. Nothing so enthralling -- in its pathological way -- has come along in this TV genre for many a moon. Never mind the sons -- self-admitted "momma's boys" all.
It's the women who may haunt your dreams.
Dec.
11, 2008
NY Daily News
- Ryan Seacrest quite at home with Momma's Boys' concept
By
Cristina Kinon
Art imitates life for Ryan Seacrest on his
latest television project, NBC’s “Momma’s Boys.”
"I can relate to this concept because I'm pretty close to my mother," Seacrest, who serves as an executive producer on the show, told television reporters in a conference call Wednesday. "I
don't take her out on dates with me ... but she is part of the decision-making
process, whether it's personal or professional."
"Momma's Boys," premiering next Tuesday at 10, follows 32 single women
as they vie for the attention of three bachelors and their mothers.
Seacrest, who talks to his mother every day, said the show is a way to celebrate the relationship between a son and mother, while also having a bit of matchmaking fun.
For the 32 women competing for a date, Seacrest and co-executive
producer Andrew Glassman selected a wide range of personalities,
including some ladies who may have been more suitable for Oxygen’s “Bad
Girls Club.”
"We wanted to incorporate more cable- television sensibilities," said Seacrest. "Obviously,
it's a big-budget network show, but we wanted some of that craziness and the
loudness that you would generally see on a cable show."
"There are some really good options and some really bad options from a mom's perspective," said Glassman. "That
yielded a cast of characters that was very dynamic."
But the show's controversy doesn't just stem from the young women on the show. One mother in particular left both Seacrest and Glassman awestruck by her attitude.
"She was an equal-opportunity offender," said Glassman. "She
comes in with a severe attitude, then you get to watch a younger generation,
including her son, give her her comeuppance over and over again. ... She really
is reality TV's answer to Archie Bunker."
In fact, things got so heated at times Seacrest and Glassman had to step out from behind the camera and calm everyone down.
"This reality show had many more time-outs than anything I've ever produced in the past," Glassman said. "But
you know you have a good show when it starts producing itself and the reality
takes over, and that happened on this series from the moment we showed up."
As for the "Momma's Boys" themselves, Seacrest said they were real catches, "handsome, focused, driven," with
only one downfall.
"I don't think the guy could exist without their mother's within 10 yards," Seacrest said. "They
do have a crutch, and that's relying on their mothers."
ckinon@nydailynews.com
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