Young dudes compete for The Cougar

TV Land’s new series The Cougar is more along the lines of “classy” reality dating shows like The Bachelor or, most recently, Mama’s Boys instead of deliciously trashy VH1 Rock of Love-style trainwrecks. The show, hosted by Vivica Fox, follows Stacey Anderson, a self-proclaimed “cougar” who is looking to find love with a younger man.

A couple of contestants seem like they’d be more suited for Tool Academy than for competing for this reality showmance, but for the most part, none have that “bottom of the barrel” feel like on some shows. The worst I can say about any of them is that their pick up lines are about as out dated as a BetaMax.

In the premiere, we meet follically-fantastic Travis, a surfer dude who just turned 21, making him one of the youngest in the bunch. We also encounter police officer Nick, Colt, who refers to himself in the third person, and Ryan, a befuddled ex-Marine who gets drunk, angry and completely reminds me of Anthony Michael Hall’s bully character from Edward Scissor Hands.

The concept for the series has promise, despite the comparisons it might invite to SNL’s “Cougar Den” sketches. The MILF at the center of it all is genuinely pretty and, at 40, is hardly old enough to be labeled a cougar at all. It also might be appealing from the female perspective in that we see a zillion shows on tv where men (*cough*Bret Michaels*cough*) date skanky girls half their age, so maybe it’s time for a show where a woman gets to do it too.

As with most dating shows, there’s sure to be steamy scenes and drama through out the competition. The Cougar premieres this Wednesday at 10pm EST on TV Land.