Brighton Beach Reality Show a la Jersey Shore?
Okay, let’s start by saying that we have no idea if this is real. However, a A website popped up five days ago claiming to be the application page for a future reality television show based on Jersey Shore – but Ruskie-fied.
Guess what it’s called… go on, guess…
Brighton Beach! And no, there won’t be one bit of stereotyping of Russians as vodka-downing, kalbasa-munching, techno-blasting party fiends. Oh… wait… here’s the description for the casting call:
Are you the Russian Snooki or The Situation? Are you a super outgoing and fun-loving Russian-American that sometimes sneaks kalbaska, pel’meni and vodka from the fridge? Can people hear the Euro/Techno/Russian music blasting from your car before they see you pull up? Do you attend birthday parties at Russian restaurants every weekend? If so, we may want to cast you for a new reality TV show that centers around a group of Russian-American strangers living together in a house on the shores of Brighton Beach for a summer. The cameras will roll as you do what you do best — eat, drink and PARTY.
Sorry Alevtina, but this just isn’t your day.
The mysterious unidentified producers are looking for Russian-Americans between the ages of 21 and 30 for a six to eight week commitment over the summer. Video interviews are requested as part of the application process, and applicants are expected to answer 20 questions ranging from their personality to their dating philosophy, and from percentage of Russian friends to their beauty routine.
At first glance, we had trouble taking this seriously. Could it really be? Did someone steal our idiotic idea of Sheepshead Shore? And put it in the grimier but more apropos venue of Brighton?
Well, we don’t know. But the website appears professional enough, with sharp grammar and effective marketing copy. The interview tips follow tried and true suggestions for testimonial-style video recording. I suppose in the world of reality TV, anything’s possible.
So, Sheepshead Bay, get your wife-beaters ready. It’s time to elevate the profile of the Russian stereotype to the levels shared by obnoxious guidos and drunken Irishmen.