MILF Manor Delivers an Early Contender For Most Uncomfortable TV Moment of the Year

When TLC released the trailer for MILF Manor back in December, the internet was quick to point out that the premise sounded suspiciously similar to that of 30 Rock’s show-within-a-show MILF Island. In the former, eight mothers of varying ages look for love among a group of twentysomething men; in the latter, “super hot moms” vie for the attention of “50 eighth grade boys.” One episode in, MILF Manor is certainly more serious than its fictional counterpart, but it might be even more uncomfortable, which is somehow both impressive and a depressing reminder of the current state of reality dating television.

Early promos for MILF Manor teased a “shocking twist,” but anyone paying attention in the first two minutes of the premiere could probably figure it out: The eight women and eight men — for some of them, “boys” would be a more accurate term — are actually mother-son duos. “What’s going on?” asks 28-year-old Jose as the curtain falls and the groups see each other for the first time. What’s going on, Jose, is a depraved ratings ploy.

MILF Manor’s grand surprise creates the desired effect. While some mothers, like Orange Country native Kelle, jokingly ask their sons to leave the room so they can hook up with one of the guys, others, like gym owner Pola, go the opposite direction, encouraging their sons to stay away from women they think would be a bad match (Kelle is involved in this scenario, as well).

These encounters lead to some of the most cringe-worthy moments ever committed to film, but they pale in comparison to the show’s first challenge, in which the women are blindfolded and must determine which shirtless man is their son by touch alone. Whoever can successfully identify their son wins a suite in the resort — because obviously the mothers and sons will be living together for the duration of their stay. The resulting scene is five full minutes of sensual rubbing, complete with gross comments from both parties ("I just hope she doesn't go below the waist whenever she's groping these guys," says Kelle's son Joey) and a background track that sounds like someone at TLC searched “Sexy fun times” in a royalty-free music database.

When all is said and done, realtor Stefany identifies her 28-year-old son Billy the fastest, winning the suite. Congratulations to Stefany and Billy, I guess, and sorry to the rest of us.

New episodes of MILF Manor air Sundays at 10:00 PM ET on TLC and Discovery+. Join the discussion about the show in our forums.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.