Octomom is enough

This just in … according to In Touch Weekly, the so-called “Octomom” Nadya Suleman and her 14 children (newborn octuplets included) are set to become the stars of a brand new reality dating show.

Billed as a cross between TLC’s “Jon & Kate Plus 8” and “The Bachelor,” the show will feature the celebrated single mom and her children as she tries to locate her very own Mr. Right (Mr. Clean and Mr. Coffee might come in handy, too).

While the reality dating stuff is certainly a new twist, I have to point out there’s a long tradition of TV shows and movies centered around the theme of single parents with large broods.  The Brady Bunch is probably the most well-known example (Eight is Enough is another classic).  There’s also an old Doris Day/Brian Keith vehicle entitled With Six You Get Eggroll. 

The best, by far, though, came out in 1968 and featured Lucille Ball as another wacky “octomom” who falls for single dad Henry Fonda.  Yours, Mine and Ours (there was a remake, but stick with the original) was based on the real-life story of Helen North, a Navy widow and mother of eight and Frank Beardsley, a career Navy man (and widower) with 10 kids of his own. The two meet and marry and as they say, hilarity (not to mention movie rights) quickly ensued.

My favorite line from the movie:  “We won’t be a family, we’ll be a freak show!”   Nuff said, right?

What’s new in online dating?

The economic picture is bleak as hell, but according to experts who track this sort of thing, the online dating scene is booming.  A recent ABC Nightline story (read it here courtesy of OnlinePersonalsWatch) reported that Match.com currently has 15 million members worldwide with 20,000 new people signing up every day. Big guns eHarmony and PlentyofFish are raking in the members (and dough) as well, and brand new sites are popping up like foul balls come April.

What are these sites?  Ironically, one of the hottest new “dating” trends is “no strings attached” sex sites designed for marrieds looking to cheat (as opposed to singles looking to date). While the NSA sites are too numerous to count (sigh), the top ranking U.S. adult sites include AdultFriendfinder, Fling, Mate1 and SexSearch. My personal favorite (at least in the subtle name department) is  Onlinebootycall, although this one is not so much about married people running around behind each others’ backs, but singles skipping the dinner and movie and getting on to the main event (the British casual sex counterpart is even called Forgetdinner.co.uk )

But it’s not all about romance, folks.  Some people are only interested in hard, cold numbers, which is where another new site — CreditScoreDating.com — comes in. According to their home page, “good credit scores are sexy” which is why we now have an online dating site where people can whip out their “big one” for all to see. Although from the looks of it, some folks are just as willing to whip out their medium or small ones, too (seriously dude, is 675 even something to brag about?).  

Finally, for those looking for a break from all this diehard dating and mating, there’s LoveInTheDumps, an irreverent online magazine that bills itself as “the place for the romantically hopeless.”  Categories include the Impersonals, where people can post about what kind of “doomed relationship” they’re looking for, Dr Damage, (a Q & A with the “world’s foremost expert on mutated love”) and Bitch Whispers, where three cartoon women offer catty commentary on online daters’ profile photos (i.e., “The Lady of Avalon called — she wants her sacrificial garb back!”). The perfect companion after yet another bad online coffee date.  Enjoy!