TUCKAHOE, NY – As part of the crack staff here at Meet The Matts, sometimes you do things you wouldn’t normally otherwise do, and one such event happened on Friday night. 
Scanning the television channels on an otherwise dreadful night of programming, the guide alerted me to the series premiere of Meet The Smiths on TBS at 9 o’clock. Half an hour later, (I gave it a chance beyond the ten-minute mark) the conclusion I came to was how a horrible night of television just got worse.
The show centers around TBS basketball analyst and former NYC roundball legend Kenny Smith and the blended family he shares with his smoking hot, ex-Price Is Right model and current wife, Gwendolyn. Admittedly, it is a good looking family but to get a reality show out of it is simply astonishing. And The Matts can’t get a show anywhere on the tube with their insanity I ask? The show is what you would get if you crossed The Brady Bunch with The Cosby Show minus the laughter.
I was left trying to answer a few of my own questions: How does Kenny Smith parlay a basketball desk job into reality show stardom? Was Gwendolyn one of Bob Barker’s Beauties who was harassed and given the promise of a television show as restitution? Thirty minutes never seemed to take that long. Yes folks, it’s that bad as cameras follow the teenagers, and tykes around the house as mom and dad collide on parenting styles. I give this show about two or three more episodes before the plug is pulled and the program is taken off life support.
https://youtu.be/h1g22I_UvWg
The only thing that saved my Friday night were a few cold Schaefers and The Odd Couple (not the latest reincarnation). It was the episode where Felix, in order to become better connected with his son, undergoes some tutoring by Oscar – in an attempt to serve as the kid’s football coach. The team loses their first game 74-0 but Chubby likes the brownies his Coach Felix bakes and is the lone supporter in a vote to fire Felix. Newly designed plays including the “Disjointed U-formation” are subsequently scrapped as Oscar calls plays from the locker room only to be caught by Felix. Thank you, Neil Simon, for salvaging some of my night.
Saturday, was not much better. But at least there was Wisconsin beating Calipari and Kentucky – the NCAA version of the 19-0 New England Patriots.
That’s it for now, come back tomorrow for continued excellence on the MTM programming front, when West Coast Craig avoids laying an egg… Happy Easter!
P.s… Granted, the production value for some of the earlier MTM stuff wasn’t the greatest. But still.
