Russian Dolls

Anastasia and Diana in "Russian Dolls" Created by Left/Right. Executive producers, Ken Druckerman, Banks Tarver, Take advantage of Sharenow, Gena McCarthy, Colleen Conway co-executive producers, Elina Burns, Alina Dizik, Edward Simpson producers, Kevin Vargas, Christine Mahin company directors, Keshia Coe, Jerry Carita supervisory story producers, Eliza Hindmarch, Kevin Felix lead editor, Matthew Luhrman casting, Risa Tanania. 30 MIN.Apparently, "Jersey Shore's" crimes against culture includes releasing a torrent of heavily staged reality programs rich within me-too ethnic stereotyping. Enter "Russian Dolls," that has the excellence of show-casing the worst Russian accents because the early Bond movies, or when Boris and Natasha started attempting to kill moose and squirrel. Occur Brighton Beach -- referred to by citizens as "One square mile of Brooklyn jam-full of crazy Russians" -- it is a Vodka-implanted taste of Lifetime's desperation being hipper and obtain observed. Does it work? Most likely nyet. Area of the initial trouble with "Dolls" is there is no real focus into it. The half-hour premiere flits everywhere, presenting a lot of heavily highlighted personas it's difficult to maintain track. On the way, there's time for any bikini-clad trip right into a spa, a grandmother "pageant," along with a date in which a 23-year-old lady debates whether or not to split up having a guy because he isn't Russian and "time's drained" on giving her mother the 100%-Russian grandchildren she would like. Even though participants clearly understand what's expected of these (witness the brawl within the "This year on" tease), the very first bite is seasoning with no meat. Furthermore, the series lacks the kind of ligament providing you with a minimum of a modicum of narrative coherence towards the "Real Average women" franchise, or a variety of programs which have beaten "Dolls" towards the punch. (Lifetime is pairing the series having a other half-hour, "Picker Siblings," dedicated to interior planning, another well-worn -- highlighting on worn-out -- genre.) The show's title (it had been initially pitched as "Brighton Beach") reflects Lifetime's need to put a youthful-female stamp about the proceedings that does not really exist, among the futile look for exactly what the New Yorker precisely referred to as "casting the Russian Snooki." Rather, it is a multigenerational experience, for example whenever a married lady grouses and comes her eyes through the undignified gran pageant, wincing as her mother-in-law works a belly dancing. "It's just like a never-ending torture," she groans. Fortunately, the tedium of "Dolls" has ended inside a half-hour. Contact John Lowry at john.lowry@variety.com