'The Marriage Ref ' Recap

NBC's The Marriage Ref premiered last night, hosted by stand-up comedian Tom Papa…although the show should unquestionably be renamed "The Marriage Roast," because that’s what you get when you have three comedians in the same room, with two as judges, Jerry Seinfeld, Ricky Gervais, and actress Julianne Moore being an innocent bystander.

I was perplexed as to why Gervais was even a judge considering he’s ONLY a common-law husband and has never legally tied the knot. On top of that, his jokes were really bad. "Oh I love it because it's racist!"<<<...yeah ...like that bad. And the second season is nothing short of new. Not only does the “winning spouse” receive bragging rights of who's “The Rightest,” (as a journalist, that made me cringe…really…the “right-est”?) they now also receive a huge billboard that states which spouse was correct, complete with a photograph to really rub it in…and, oh yeah, $25K. Nice. In last night’s winning circle, Jiab Wausserman, who beat out two other couples whose complaints involved a very hairy man in his wife’s sports bra and “pumpkin porn,” is basking in the victorious glow right about now after pleading the case of her mother visiting from Thailand 3-6 months at a time.

I definitely agreed with the decisions of the refs on this one, even though the case of the in-laws are always touchy, Jim, Jiab’s husband, felt that “she spends too much time with her Mother,” and the fact that all Mom cook’s when she comes to visit is…spring rolls, which forces Jim and his sons to sneak out and grab cheeseburgers late at night.

To play an “un-official” fourth ref, I think it is foolish of Jim to misinterpret his wife’s respect and honor to her mother as “spending too much time.” In Jiab’s Thai culture, family is extremely important as well as respecting your elders. Maybe he should’ve brushed up on that bit of information instead of just the Tae Kwon Do he was showing off during their segment.

And as far as the food situation goes, to Jim: Cook food that YOU like and want to eat if you can’t stand to stomach another spring roll from “Tsu-Mami.” Simple.

The Marriage Ref airs every Sunday @ 10 p.m. on NBC.