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'MILF Manor' Takes Fauxcest To TV
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'MILF Manor' Takes Fauxcest To TV

Where 'Back in the Groove' glamorizes dating older women, 'MILF Manor' just wants to make you feel weird about mothers and sons.
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When a dating reality show called “MILF Manor” was announced not long ago, the reaction was immediate and unanimous: Wasn’t that a fake show on “30 Rock”? It does seem like a desperate TV exec, over a decade after the “MILF Island” episode of “30 Rock,” cribbed the concept of a reality show about hot moms for their own pitch.

But in practice, “MILF Manor” is somehow more tawdry than its fictional predecessor. “MILF Island” (tagline: "25 super-hot moms, 50 eighth grade boys, no rules”) seemed more akin to “Survivor” than a dating show. The bikini-clad moms competed in challenges, and the boys voted them off the island. “MILF Manor,” on the other hand, seems more akin to the scene-setting portion of a YouPorn clip than a dating show.

The eight hot moms who arrive at the Mexican villa, ready to date some younger men, quickly realize that the dating pool is made up of their own sons — one of them as young as 20. And while some attempts at romance are made, the show (at least th…

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Claire Fallon and Emma Gray obsessively analyze our cultural obsessions, from fashion trends to books to the buzziest scripted TV shows.