Pink Shade: Reality TV with MP

Pink Shade is a reality TV recap show hosted by Mary Payne, and it works one episode at a time. Its titles spell out exactly what is on the table: Welcome to Plathville (s8e3) 'Fish or Cut Bait', Before the 90 Days (s8e18) 'Emergency Exit', Love During Lockup (s7e1) 'All Aboard The Hot Mess Express'. That precision makes it easy to find the conversation that matches the episode just watched. Mary Payne almost always has company. Kimberly turns up on several recaps and Keisha on others, and guests such as Ace Fanning take the chair on episodes like 'Pop and Bravo with Ace Fanning', so the pairing changes from one recap to the next. The talk is loose, quick and happy to wander. On Plathville, Kimberly and Mary Payne stop to chew on the phrase fish or cut bait, then turn to Kaylin and Isaac's breakup and agree it is strange that he called her parents to apologize. With Ace Fanning, chat about a show featuring a mansion and a supposedly polyamorous couple slides over to a judge whose recorded court sessions went viral for his kindness, and to the news that he had died. Tangents like these are a steady part of the texture. Prison reality has a place in the lineup as well. The Love During Lockup recap with Keisha kicks off with a shout of 'Mugshot Monday' and a welcome back after an unusually long break. In that gap, the show covered 60 Days In season four on a tip from Kimberly from A Date with Dateline, and the pair say they loved it far more than they expected. Temptation Island arrives as a bonus episode. Mary Payne calls the premise about the worst thing a couple could do to a relationship, and Mark L. Wahlberg earns praise for calling people out without insulting them. Recaps are not the only format. In an interview with Elise Benson of Before the 90 Days, Mary Payne recalls meeting her at a TLC holiday party in New York, and the two go over the photoshopped press photo that Elise says she first saw along with everyone else. Elise also describes about six months of talking with Josh on Instagram as things progressed. The show carries on while the host is away: one episode billed as a 'BUNKIE TAKEOVER!' has Kimberly and Matt handling Before the 90 Days while Mary Payne is in France, with Matt's Chardonnay picks thrown in. Across all of it the mood is gossipy and candid, strong language is common, and the people on screen get little benefit of the doubt. With a large back catalog, there is plenty to catch up on.