Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Love it or Hate it: The Marriage Ref Gets Reaction

posted by Michele Olson
With the half hour premiere of The Marriage Ref, the reaction has been mixed. The news was pretty negative on Twitter, with most people against it and against the idea that the panelists are not model marriage mentors.

Jerry is probably not worried as he’s been through this before. Jerry’s very popular show called Seinfeld was originally turned down by the Fox Network and picked up by NBC. It didn’t get into the top 30 in the ratings until the third season. We have not seen the full hour version of the Marriage Ref yet, and most shows are not well loved out of the gate. They take time to build an audience and for the “actors” to get more comfortable with the project.

As an entity concerned with the well-being of marriage it’s been a good show for thinkmarriag.org so far. It caused a local TV station to want an interview because of the show being in the headlines. It’s given anyone watching the show a platform to talk about other couple’s communication, which can lead to more conversation about communication in their own marriage. To the show’s credit, they have only chosen couples who seem to genuinely like each other outside of their spotlighted dilemma. The message is getting out: you can disagree and still be crazy about each other.

Couple’s watching it are spending time together and most likely laughing and recalling some instances in their own marriage that they could imagine putting on the show. The whole idea that marriage isn’t easy or perfect but still a great way to live can also come through as the show progresses.

Compared to many TV shows that glamorize affairs, we could do far worse than The Marriage Ref. We also get to see someone who was dedicated to bachelorhood for years actually talking about liking marriage in real life. (The real Jerry Seinfeld)

Stay tuned for more reaction, but once again, realize that real resources exist for marriage and healthy relationships at thinkmarriage.org Let’s see some viral tweeting and blogging about that!

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