Mark Philippoussis Tries to Score on Age of Love

I admit. I watch a little bit of golf now and then. And if Tiger’s in the mix at a Slam on the final day I sometimes tune in. Yesterday, Tiger was on the leaderboard at the US Open in Oakmont where he eventually finished second behind some overweight smoker named Angel Cabrera. ADHEREL

But the golf and Angel’s smoking is not what I remember the most. What I remember the most about the telecast was the commercials, specifically the one previewing NBC’s new dating show, “Age of Love”, which features tennis’s very own Mark Philippoussis trying to decide if he wants to get it on with a bunch of 20-year-old or 40-year-old “women” on TV for the world to see.

Now I haven’t seen the show – it debuts tonight at 9pm – so maybe I’m jumping the gun. But screw it. Mark’s last girlfriend, Alexis Barbara, was a teen when they dated, so I think I’m pretty safe in guessing that Flip’s going to go with the younger “girls” on the show.

As for the show itself, chances of it bombing have to be right around 100%. During the commercial yesterday they didn’t even mention by name who the “stud” (or in this case “dud”) guy was. If you are NBC don’t you at least want to promote the fact you have a two-time Grand Slam finalist, Mark Philippoussis on your commercial? Apparently they didn’t think that was appealing enough, and probably figured such disclosure would frighten away viewers.

I do have to give credit to Mark for getting a gig like this. I hate reality dating TV and in my mind anyone who appears on these shows or wants to appear on these shows has to be of lowest common denominator. But there still must have been an application process, assuming Philippoussis wasn’t the only one who applied or the only washed up “star” they hunted down (was Marcelo Rios unavailable?). So for Flip to wow the producers, casting agents, NBC execs, and land a leading network role like that is pretty phenomenal. In fact, given he has to be among the Top 5 talents ever in tennis to have never won a Slam (he never will), maybe this will be his true calling.

And if you are on the show – or really any of these “reality” hook-up shows – you are kidding yourself if you really think that’s the road to finding your true love. If you really believe that, and you have exhausted all other avenues and you think that TV’s the only place to go, then you have got bigger issues. Let’s face it, all the girls on Mark’s show are in it to pick up a paycheck, hook-up, get humiliated on national TV, and try and get enough exposure to land them another TV gig somewhere down the road. Not to say that Mark isn’t, but at least he can fall back on playing low level ATP events and Challengers.