Stableford: Whom Would Philippoussis Rather?

Leitch — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:27:48 EDT

FishbowlNY editor Dylan Stableford occasionally writes for Deadspin about tennis. Here's his take on the new reality show about Mark Philippoussis deciding between young women and old women. (Or something like that.)

If there's anything worse than NBC Sports programming, it's NBC's prime-time lineup. Newly installed NBC Entertainment president Ben Silverman's solution? Why, Mark Philippoussis, of course. NBC has cast the six-foot-five 30-year-old Australian hardcourt specialist in its latest reality, Age Of Love (get it? Get it?) in which Philippoussis, currently the world's 134th ranked men's singles player, dates 13 women — six "fun, enthusiastic 'kittens' in their 20s" and seven "beautiful, sophisticated 'Cougars' in their 40s" (seriously, NBC is calling these women "Cougars") in search of his eternal mixed doubles partner.

NBC sent Deadspin a roughcut screener, and let's just say when it comes to reality television, Philippoussis is no Jesse Palmer. In the first episode, premiering Monday, June 18th at 9PM, Mark "is first introduced to the 'Cougars.' As he meets them one by one, their ages increase, much to his surprise. The series takes a dramatic turn when Mark learns there's a second group of much younger women — the 'Kittens' — who will also be attempting to vie for his affections."

Future episodes are expected to see the girls attempting to vie for Mark's affection during serve-and-volley drills, USTA tournament withdrawal etiquette quizzes and French bikini clay court wrestling.

Stableford:
Sharapova Fingered In Bananagate [Deadspin]

Like The Bachelor, But Somehow Dumber

Leitch — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:00:08 EDT

Remember Mark Philippoussis? He was a vaguely douchey tennis "star" who dated Paris Hilton before it set your genitals on fire to date Paris Hilton. (This could be when she was nine.) Well, he has made the next logical jump in his "career;" He's appearing on a dating reality show. That NBC dating show in which old(er) ladies and young(er) ladies compete to date him.

The show is setup so that there are two "teams" of women grouped together by their age. One team is made up of "cougars", women in their 40's. The other is made up of "kittens", women in their 20's. Each woman will be vying for Philippoussis'(who's 30 years old) affection, and the audience will supposedly get to see whether age makes a difference when trying to find true love.

As we've mentioned before, no athletes in sports are dumber than home-"schooled" tennis players. We hope this is one of those reality shows that ends with the lead character being run over by a bus. Wait, have no reality shows ever ended that way? Pity.

Mark Philippoussis Is Holding Serve In The Court Of Love [The Sports Oasis]

Deadspin: mark philippoussis

Stableford: Whom Would Philippoussis Rather?

Like The Bachelor, But Somehow Dumber