: In this era of dating, age is rapidly becoming just another number - or is it? Certainly it's not uncommon for your average Hollywood pop tart to shack up with a guy old enough to be her father. However, "Age of Love," which premiered last Monday on NBC, seeks to possibly reverse that scenario.
Seeking to turn the old axiom of "age before beauty" into a question, "Age" revolves around a simple enough reality TV premise - the dating show. The twist here being is that the beautiful bachelorette are all in their '40s who've been longing to settle down.
The prospective "prize" is pro-tennis player Mark Philippoussis; a self-described playboy who has just hit the big "30" and has apparently volunteered himself for what NBC's ads bill as "the ultimate social experiment." For added spice, there's also a helicopter full of young, fresh-faced college gals coming to town and seeking to throw a monkey wrench in their elders counterparts plans.
The premiere is an inoffensive affair. Those with experience with dating older women will recognize the archetypes on display - the high-power businesswoman who's been too busy for love; the self-involved artist; and the girl-at-heart woman whose biological clock is ticking.
However, unlike most reality TV shows, the ladies seem to be genuinely friendly with each other and likable. Jealousy rears its ugly head, of course, but it's tastefully restrained, as adults are apt to be. An added bonus, the guy is cool too. He admits to be disappointed at first by the seeming lack of "beautiful younger girls" but gets over himself by the half hour mark.
Just before this reviewer can get too comfortable with the idea of a kinder gentler reality show, here come the young kids to screw things up. When they're introduced with blaring party music whilst donning expensive, strategically cut clothes, you don't need to be a psychic to know where this is going.
Setting up the older folks to be the heroines who must struggle against those little whippersnappers who take everything for granted. In theory, it could be interesting, full of inevitable temptations and holding a promise of future cat fighting to come. In practice, it manages to be not painful.
Perhaps this is tangential, but why is it that reality TV manages to be more cookie-cutter and two-dimensional than scripted television these days? As a scripted drama-comedy, this show could be a n intelligent look at the complexities of American society's perception of older women.
As it stands however, "Age of Love" will air, entertain and be promptly forgotten about after the fall season begins. The premiere cuts off just before the true sparks fly - the bevy of beauties is revealed to Philippoussis like an apple to Adam just before cutting to the credits.
Maybe, in the following weeks, the show will climb out of mediocrity and become a water-cooler centerpiece. For now though, it doesn't look like "Age of Love" is going to grow up anytime soon.
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