(c) The CW

Ready for more guilty pleasure reality TV watching? You better be because next Wednesday on The CW the new reality series “Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants” will be heading down the runway. “Crowned” stars 11 mom and daughter pageant queen wannabe duos set on surviving weekly “de-sashings” to be the last pair standing and win $100,000. Earlier this week I got the chance to preview the premiere and from what I saw I think you’re going to want to catch this series.

“Crowned” is hosted by the very lovely Shanna Moakler, a former Miss U.S.A., Queer Eye’s Carson Kressley, and TV personality Cynthia Garrett. The image above might show Kressley in the front, but it was definitely Moakler who is running the show when it comes down to the judges. I was really impressed by how well she did with taking charge and actually giving intelligent and useful feedback to the contestants (ahem, I’m looking in your direction Carrie Fisher). Kressley had plenty of moments to be catty and even got a few laughs out of me with his commentary. Just watch for when his internal voice suddenly becomes external before the performers have left the stage. There’s also a pageant director to keep order back at the mansion (it’s huge!) and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of conflicts between her and the girls as the season progresses.

While watching the sneak peek of the premiere I realized one of the show’s biggest strengths would be the actual pairings for the competitors. We’ve seen Amazing Race do couples and siblings, but having every pair involved on a family level was already bringing out some interesting dynamics in the first show. The mothers are all dead set on making sure they support their daughters with some even admitting their biggest fear is losing it for their child. But don’t worry, it’s not all hugs and happy tears. There are lots of moments for embarrassing, awkward, and flat out obnoxious characters.

The first challenge is to put together a “first impression” presentation which involves choosing wardrobe, a team name, and some sort of routine to show the judges. This seemed to be a very big task for most of the pairs, which makes me worrisome on how they’ll survive once the challenges really get tough. You’ve got one set that chooses “Skin Deep” as their team name without a clear understanding of the phrase, but that’s got nothing to compare with “Silent but Deadly.” Oh yes, I promise I’m not making that up and it’s priceless to watch the very prim and proper mother explain why they chose it. A few of the routines are pretty clever, but too many of them are way out there. I won’t ruin the surprise for you, but I was definitely shocked by the two pairs that end up in the bottom spots though I’m glad to see the judges aren’t cutting the pretty faces any slack here.

If you enjoy your reality TV with a side of catty, and you know who you are, then “Crowned” is going to be worth your while. The series will launch Wednesday, December 12th on The CW. You can read more about Crowned over at CW.com.

All images (c) The CW

Here’s a preview of the series:

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1. Crowned On The CW Launches Tonight | Wild Bluff Media : Entertainment Examined
   December 12th, 2007 at 12:03 pm

   [...] still be pretty entertaining. I watched a promo copy of the premiere the other week and gave it a positive nod in my review. I didn’t get to see who was the first mother-daughter pair “desashed” from the [...]

2. Crowned: Episode 2 “Momma Needs A New Swimsuit” Preview | Wild Bluff Media : Entertainment Examined
   December 19th, 2007 at 9:01 am

   [...] Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants returns for its second installment tonight on The CW. Last week the new reality series surprised me after having seen all but the final moments of its first “desashing”. I was fully confident we’d seen the last of the “Blonde Bombshells” after their sad “first impression” but instead we said goodbye to the similarly over confident “Reigning A’s”. Well thank goodness we didn’t lose “Silent But Deadly” in the process or I’d just have to give up now. Instead, tonight the series will press on as ten teams are left and the inevitable swimsuit competition is upon us: Ten teams remain and begin to form clicks [sic] and alliances in the house. Following beauty pageant tradition, the teams must compete in a swimsuit competition, and the daughters are forced to select swimsuits for themselves and their mothers. The teams also create a one-minute fitness routine for the judges (Carson Kressley, Shanna Moakler and Cynthia Garrett), and the team with the lowest score is de-sashed and sent home. [...]

3. Crowned: Episode 3 “Attack of the Beauty Queens” Preview | Wild Bluff Media : Entertainment Examined
   December 26th, 2007 at 11:00 am

   [...] Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants returns for its third installment tonight on The CW. Last week we saw the team previously known as “Silent But Deadly” desashed and sent on their way. I was really surprised by that as I thought they had been doing a good job, well at least better than most of the other teams. It sounds like things are going to get pretty catty soon so maybe it was better to send some of the nice folks home sooner rather than later. [...]

4. Crowned: Episode 4 “Tension, Tears, Teamwork” Preview | Wild Bluff Media : Entertainment Examined
   January 2nd, 2008 at 11:01 am

   [...] Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants returns for its fourth installment tonight on The CW. Last week we saw team “Tomboy Queens” desashed and sent on their way. This week things will continue to heat up as its time for the mother and daughter talent show. Hmm, I wonder if Patty and Laura will just come out and present themselves saying, “our talent is who we are.” Ugh, I’m ready for those two to be gone. [...]

5. WBM Interview: Shanna Moakler of “Crowned” on The CW | Wild Bluff Media : Entertainment Examined
   January 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm

   [...] converged in reality TV when Shanna came on as a host of The CW’s latest reality show Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants. Joined by co-hosts Carson Kressley and Cynthia Nixon, Shanna challenges mother and daughter teams [...]

6. Crowned: Episode 5 “Smile Like You Mean It” Preview | Wild Bluff Media : Entertainment Examined
   January 9th, 2008 at 9:00 am

   [...] Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants returns for its fifth episode tonight on The CW. Last week we saw team “Goal Getters” (previously known as “Sassy Sisters”) desashed by rival team “Dream Gals”. The pressure continues tonight from the previews we’ve seen. The lovely mother and daughter pair of Angela and Tenia will be right back at it as we see them heckling the other girls during this week’s challenge “smile like you mean it.” Those two are right up there with Patty and Laura for my “hope they go soon” list. With just seven pairs left I’m still putting my chips down on the “Gifted Dolls” with Rachelle and Mindy as the top runners for winning this season. They better not slow down though as I’m thinking the “Dream Gals” aren’t far behind them. [...]

7. Crowned: Episode 6 “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep” Preview | Wild Bluff Media : Entertainment Examined
   January 16th, 2008 at 12:00 pm

   [...] Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants returns for its sixth episode tonight on The CW. Last week we saw Heather and Brenda’s team “Goal Driven Gals” desashed by rival team “Sincere Sexy Reds”. That means, somehow, the graceful Angela and her daughter will continue on this week as you can see in the video below. I can’t imagine they’ll last much longer. This week’s challenge sounds like a pretty good cause as they’ll be helping out with Habitat for Humanity. The preview blurb notes a fight will break out between a mother and daughter. I’d put all my chips on that being between Laura and Patty as we’ve already seen them get into it a few times. We’ll know soon enough. [...]

8. Crowned: Episode 7 “Let’s Host A Cocktail Party” Preview | Wild Bluff Media : Entertainment Examined
   January 23rd, 2008 at 9:01 am

   [...] Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants returns for its sixth episode tonight on The CW. Last week’s episode was hilarious with Laura and Patty chewing out Rachelle for winning the week’s contest of “best attitude” as they worked on the Habitat for Humanity home. It was hilarious because they were so clueless as to why they didn’t win and Rachelle and her mom, Mindy, did. It got better though when Angela and her daughter, Tenia, those classy gals, were told to desash themselves but ended up running away off stage because they said they wouldn’t be humiliated by anyone. Yeah, it was pretty entertaining and with just two last episodes to go in the first season I imagine most of these girls will pull out all the stops. [...]

9. Crowned: Season Finale Episode 8 “And the Tiara Goes To…” Preview | Wild Bluff Media : Entertainment Examined
   January 30th, 2008 at 9:00 am

   [...] Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants returns for its finale episode tonight on The CW. So after seven weeks of conflict amidst mother daughter unions it’s finally time to wrap up the premiere season of Crowned. Tonight’s finale will feature the remaining four teams: Rachelle & Mindy, Hollis & Gina, Jenileigh & Moya, and Laura & Patty. [...]