Television: CW Reality Series Fly Girls Prepares For Take Off

Two weeks ago the CW Network launched the premiere of the utterly grating and IMHO completely unwatchable reality series High Society, which follows the exploits of New York Socialite/fashion designer Tinsley Mortimer and the people who share the New York social scene with her. This week the CW is set to launch another brand new reality series called Fly Girls.

Where else but a reality series about Flight Attendants will airline passengers learn such lingo as IFB- (In flight boyfriend) the guy the attendants think is cute. OFB (out of flight boyfriend) is of course when the girl starts dating the cute guy she meets on the plane. Jump Seat Therapy – when the flight attendants gossip or share personal life details with the attendant in the jump seat next to her (and gets overheard by passengers sitting nearby),

Fly Girls was originally scheduled to follow High Society however with High Society rapidly reaching terminal velocity in the ratings (terminal velocity being the point at which an aircraft can no longer be pulled out of a head long crash to the ground), the CW Network hastily changed that and rotated the two series around so that Fly Girls will now premiere in the 9PM (EST) slot before this week’s episode of High Society.

Fly Girls follows the lives of five flight attendants who work for Virgin America Airlines, which is owned and operated by Sir Richard Branson. The attendants whose lives will be the focus of this reality series are Nikole (Paris Hilton wanna be), Mandalay (the wholesome girl next door), Tasha (the working mom), Farrah (the blonde bombshell) and Louise (the rebellious one).

In the series premiere of the new reality docu-series, the five Virgin America flight attendants open the curtain on their lives – both in the air and on the ground.  Louise and Mandy are invited to a party by an IFB (“in-flight boyfriend”) they meet while working a flight, while Tasha and Farrah prepare their crash pad for their controversial new roommate, Nikole.  The girls then fly to Ft. Lauderdale for an inauguration party filled with scandal.

In my opinion, the first thing that makes Fly Girls stand out over the dreckitude (that’s America’s Next Top Model speak for something that is beyond awful) of High Society is that the girls of Virgin America Airlines depicted in this reality series are surprisingly diverse in looks and body type. I give kudos to the CW for not just picking a bunch of ‘cookie cutter Barbie Doll’ types. Tasha and Farrah are both woman with curves and all of them have personality (even if they are a bit cliched). The second  thing that makes it more tolerable is that, while yes they are leading glamorous lives, they are actually working for a living and dealing with some of the issues that come along with that which makes them easier for the majority of the viewing audience to relate to.

Instead of trying to stomach watching spoiled rich kids whining that mommy only gave them $125,000 instead of the $150,000 they asked for, you see these woman dealing with slightly more realistic problems and concerns, especially Tasha who has a young son named Taevon whom she is raising as a single mom with the help from his father.

Overall what I think will work best for Fly Girls and maybe gives it more of chance to take off and not make the same crash landing I see High Society headed for is that, while yes this is suppose to be a reality series, it plays out more like one of the CW Network’s staple of drama series in the vein of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. The flight attendants come off more like characters in a scripted series than spontaneous reactions of real life situations (infact Nikole absolutely reminds me both in looks and personality of my favorite CW vixen, One Tree Hill’s Rachel Gatina played by Danneel Harris).

So I say go ahead and give Fly Girls a look see, especially if you like the shows like One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl and 90210. I think it will be more appealing to the general audience than High Society is and if nothing else you’ll learn a couple of new terms you might want to think about. Like have you ever been a ‘Runner’ – A person who arrives for their flight last minute, sometimes causing the flight crew to wait for them?

Fly Girls premiere episode clears the runway  on the CW Network Wednesday March 24th at 9PM EST.