For many people with single parents, the idea of watching them date is cringe-worthy. But what happens when you get to play matchmaker for your parents? HBO Max is bringing entertainment to that idea with their new reality dating series, “My Mom, Your Dad.”
Hosted by Emmy-nominated stand-up comedian and actress Yvonne Orji (HBO’s “Insecure”), “My Mom, Your Dad” follows a group of single parents who have been nominated by their college-age kids for a second chance at love.
The parents move into a house together, unaware their young adult children are living together in a second house down the street, watching their every move through hidden cameras.
Going into the show, the college-age kids and their parents didn’t quite know what to expect. The kids quickly realized they were going to be doing more than just watching their parents date—they’d be given opportunities to meddle in their parents’ relationships. As part of the matchmaking, they were able to pick who their parents would be paired with for one-on-one dates.
Destiny Orr, who nominated her mom Kiki for the show, said she thought in some capacity they would be watching their parents, but not fully to the extent of what people see in the series.
“There were some comments made by our parents that I wish I didn’t hear,” Orr said. “But overall when we meddled, we tried our best to make sure we were moving their relationship or connection with someone further.”
Despite the experience being as uncomfortable as one can imagine, many of the young adults who nominated their parents said that being part of the series strengthened their parent-child relationships, including Breana Sturgis, whose mom Karen is on the show.
“This experience brought us closer together,” Sturgis said. “It opened up more conversations between us that we didn’t even know we needed to have.”
Not only did the show connect kids to their parents, but Philip Patrick Jr.—Philip Sr.’s son on the show—said that even the kids themselves became extremely close.
“We had a lot of the same experiences dealing with parents who were split up and having to go back and forth from house to house growing up,” Patrick Jr. said. “The reason we all became so close so fast was that, despite being from everywhere around the country, we could relate to each other on the similar things we’ve all been through.”
Produced by ITV Entertainment (“Love Island” and “Queer Eye”), the series format was created by Haley and Greg Daniels (“The Office” and “Parks and Recreation”) as their first unscripted television show, with Sam Dean (HBO Max Originals “FBOY Island,” “12 Dates of Christmas,” and “Love Is Blind”) as showrunner.
All eight episodes of the dating show are available to stream on HBO Max.
