They Shoot Matchmakers, Don’t They?
They Shoot Matchmakers, Don’t They? by Roxanne McDonald
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Will “Millionaire Matchmaker” educate viewers on the ancient matchmaking traditions, become another show for bragging rights for BRAVO, or go the way of other short-lived solo matchmaker programs? |
Like the entertaining “Confessions of a Matchmaker” (on A&E). Patti Novak, brutally
honest, just effervescent enough to make for decent camera time, didn’t last but a minute. [The official website gives proof of that, with its episode guide contents, for example, consisting of “Season 1”: episode 8, episode 13, and, well, that’s it.]
Patti also-with-an-‘i’ Stanger, in a teaser preview of “Millionaire Matchmaker,” presents a similar no-nonsense approach used for her agency that only caters to millionaires…, male millionaires. Stanger plays up the grooming of the eligibles to prepare them for meeting their lifemates, plays down the biological imperative to have sex on the first date, and plays to an audience of A&E viewers who are told she has a long history of matchmaking in her family.
In other words, the whole reality show (or “docu-drama” as it is dubbed) is inexpensive advertising for the founder of the elite L.A.-based service.
BRAVO’s website describes the fledgling show as one which will “follow Stanger and her dogged staff as they give their big-bucks clients complete transformations with the help of personal shoppers, interior designers, date coaches, and therapists” and wherein each episode will feature two wealthy men who are “set up on dates with potentially compatible women, who are hand-picked by Stanger based upon their beauty and intelligence.” Moreover, “Millionaire Matchmaker” [unlike “Confessions…”] will also track “the resolute Stanger as she deals with the challenges of running a small business with demanding millionaire clients, all while trying to keep her own personal life on track.”
