Lifetime—television for women—will soon debut The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition, a reality series in which mothers/daughter pairs will attempt to resolve years of family trauma while (seemingly) living in the same house and being filmed. Much like Lifetime’s definition of “celebrity,” the show’s intentions are entirely questionable.
The series, which debuts March 1, features Heidi Pratt (née Montag), Courtney Stodden and Krista Stodden, Shar Jackson (formerly married to KFed), a woman from Bad Girls Club, and José Canseco’s ex wife. Also stepping back into the reality TV game is former child star and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Kim Richards, whose struggles with sobriety have been widely reported on (and put on display on the Real Housewives).
In the trailer, Courtney accuses her mom of falling in love with her husband (55-year-old gremlin Doug Hutchinson), a mom yells, “You guys are gonna see a mother and daughter have a fucking fight,” and Kim Richards (an extremely fragile woman on the best of days) almost comes to blows with the Bad Girl (Natalie Nunn). Best/worst of all, everything happens under the watchful eye of Dr. Debbie Magids, a therapist who has no ethical qualms with convincing desperate, vulnerable, fame-starved people to air their dirty laundry in front of a national audience.
The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition is gross and amoral...
...and I cannot wait to watch it.
Contact the author at madeleine@jezebel.com.