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Age of Love

Mark Philippoussis with a female admirer
  • Posted at 11:45am
  • 02 November 2007
  • by RhodriMarsden-RT
  • 1 comment

I told a few people that I was going to be reviewing a brand-new reality TV show today, but none of them believed me when I told them what the concept is. I don't suppose I can blame them, really. I mean, who'd guess that a show would ever be made where 12 people suffering from attention deficit disorder compete to secure their place on a team performing quintuple heart bypass surgery?

I'm joking, of course. But seriously, though, who could ever imagine that someone successfully pitched a programme where ten topless models go head to head in subjecting a failing pharmaceuticals company to an intense audit before a government-imposed deadline, with the winner securing a place on the board of PricewaterhouseCoopers?

Sorry. I'm pulling your leg. But really, who could envisage a show where a team of women over the age of 40 vie with a team of women under the age of 30 for a chance to win the heart of Australian tennis star Mark Philippoussis? No, seriously. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, it really exists. It's on E4. It started on Wednesday night. No, really. It did.

I've watched a lot of reality shows over the past few weeks, but this really takes the biscuit. The key to the first episode is that Philippoussis thinks he's on a "normal" dating show – yes, we've reached the point in 21st-century culture where such a thing exists.

We start by seeing the 40-something women watching a video of Philippoussis displaying all his Greek-Australian charm. I mean, he's really turning it on. At one point he says, "I decided on Valentine's Day that I could be single no longer, and so..." Cue footage of tennis hunk hugging a cute puppy dog. Cue 40-something American women exploding with barely concealed desire.

At first he doesn't know that this lot are all over 40. To be honest, if they hadn't told him, he probably wouldn't have twigged – none of them would look remotely out of place in the pages of a glossy lifestyle magazine. But they do tell him, after psyching themselves up beforehand. "I'm a perfect catch," says one. "I'm a beautiful young woman," says another. "I'm a labourer on a building site in Stoke-on-Trent," says another. "No, that's not right."

Crucially, neither Philippoussis nor the 40-something women know that the 20-something chicks – supple, toned and profoundly irritating – are en route. We see them interviewed before they show up. "I'm young and hot," says one, "so deal with it." Nice. "Women looking for a man when they're 40 years old?" ponders another, "It's pathetic."

To be honest, the choice for Mark is a stark and obvious one. Go for the younger women who are self-obsessed, preening, vacuous imbeciles with boob jobs, or go for the comparatively pleasant older women, whose cosmetic surgery is at least a little more tasteful.

The show is clearly set up to provoke maximum hatred among the women, and poor Philippoussis – who does seem like a nice bloke – is the one they're going to be scratching each others' eyes out over. Nasty. But of course, I've been there, I know how he feels. I've lost count of the times I've had 20 women desperate to go on a date with me abseiling down the side of a skyscraper. But hey, I cancelled – I was too busy watching TV.

Age of Love continues on Wednesdays at 10:00pm on E4 (Sky 136, Virgin 144, Freeview 29).

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  • Posted on 04 November 2007
  • at 7:34pm
  • by themanwhofellasleep

When I was on holiday in Argentina I saw a few episodes of this on cable and literally could not believe it. I thought that my brain was on fire. If someone could have come up with a concept that ridiculous... a former tennis player trying to find love, but forced to choose between a group of 40-something milfs or 20-something wannabe it-girls. Awful and yet strangely compelling. I still refuse to believe that it is real.

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