‘Mommies’: Job Hunting in Las Vegas

It wasn’t too long ago that the housewife comedy team of “The Mommies” graced the covers of daily trade publications at the annual convention of the National Assn. of Television Programming Executives. The perpetually smiling duo, among the gathering’s hot prospects at that time, were marketing their daily ABC talk show to local stations.

This week, the Mommies--or more formally, Caryl Kristensen and Marilyn Kentz--were back at NATPE, but they weren’t on anyone’s cover.

They were on their feet and on the prowl.

Kristensen and Kentz, who rose from obscurity to become stars of their own 1993 NBC sitcom and the 1995 talk show--both which were unceremoniously yanked off the air after short runs--returned to the programming marketplace with a dimmed spotlight but armed with determination as they tried to score a deal for a new show or endorsement project.

The two wandered the aisles of the massive convention sans entourage or pampering network executives or makeup artists touching them up every 15 minutes. No luxurious suites at Bellagio or the Four Seasons for them. They made do with one of the older hotels near the Las Vegas Convention Center where the gathering was based.

“Boy, we used to be on the cover for this thing,” says Kristensen without a hint of disappointment or bitterness. “How humbling,” she adds with a giggle.

The Mommies were among several celebrities at the convention seeking overtime on their already-expired 15 minutes of fame. Some, like Danny Bonaduce, the pesky redhead from “The Partridge Family,” and now a radio talk-show host at Los Angeles KYSR-FM (98.7), have new projects. Bonaduce is one of the hosts of a new male twist on the ABC-daytime female chat show “The View,” that’s being pitched by NBC Enterprises and called “The Other Half.”

The possibilities at NATPE can be intoxicating. At the Las Vegas McCarron Airport, a jubilant Bonaduce was overhead saying, “Yeah, I’m like Al Pacino. Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in.”

And the Mommies are confident they will get pulled back in as well, despite their off-the-radar status. They say there is still a market for their kind of humor, which is based around domesticity, car pools and kids.

“We first developed this act for women who could relate to not wanting sex more than one a month,” quipped Kristensen.

The one-liners come fast and furious, and they laugh easily with one another. As they walked the floor, several attendees, including men, approached them to ask what they were doing, tell them they miss seeing them on TV.

“The Mommies is like a brand,” says Kentz. “And we’ve come back [here] a little more wise and with a lot more perspective. We’ve made a lot of friends along the way, and we’ve come here to reconnect with them.”

“Obviously we’ve changed,” echoed Kristensen, who teases greeters who get the two confused that she’s the “blond.” “We’re like a cottage industry. We’re into writing more. We’ve written a project called ‘Good Mommie, Bad Mommie.’ ”

One project pitched to them during the convention was a cooking show where they would be surrounded by naked men.

“I said, ‘You want the Mommies to be with naked men?’ ” said Kentz with a toothy smile. “I said, ‘Can they be in cages?’ and the guy said, ‘Yes!’ ”

Warned Kristensen: “But we won’t take our clothes off. They’ll pay us to keep our clothes on.”