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This week on “The Marriage Ref”, host Tom Papa is accompanied by three celebrities, namely Kirstie Alley, Jimmy Fallon and Sheryl Crow.

Source: Ace Show Biz

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She may be divorced twice over, but that’s not stopping superstar Madonna from doling out marital advice on NBC’s The Marriage Ref! The pop music icon is joining comedians, Larry David and Ricky Gervais, on a brand-new episode of Jerry Seinfeld’s reality advice show tonight. Keep reading to find out what The Marriage Ref himself had to say about Madge’s visit…

“The minute I saw [Madonna] backstage,” says Papa, “I knew she was going to be great because she was playful and fun. She came out there, sat between Ricky Gervais and Larry David and held her own. She was not backing down!” According to previews for tonight’s episode of The Marriage Ref, Larry David and Madonna get into a few tiffs of their own.

At the end of the episode, Larry David said, “This is easily the most uncomfortable hour I’ve ever spent in my life.” Madonna quickly sniped back, asking, “Why? Because you’re sitting next to a woman who is standing up to you?”

Read the full story on Reality TV Magazine

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Jason Alexander (“Seinfeld”) is going to guest star on “The Marriage Ref,” 9 p.m. Thursday on NBC, along with Martha Stewart and Cedric the Entertainer.

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Season to date, NBC ranks #3 among the major networks in adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and total viewers, and is #2 in adults 18-34.
Paced by strong ratings from a one-hour episode of “The Office,” and solid debuts from “Parenthood,” “The Marriage Ref” and “Who Do You Think You Are,” NBC averaged a 2.1 rating, 6 share in adults 18-49 and 6.4 million viewers overall for the week of March 1-7.

The regular-slot debut of “The Marriage Ref” Thursday also ranked among the top 20 programs this week in primetime’s key demographic of adults 18-49 at #18. Among adults 18-34, “Marriage Ref” ranked #14 (tied). Also ranking in the top 20 this week in adults 18-34 were NBC’s Thursday comedies “Parks and Recreation (at #18, tied) and “Community” (#20, tied).

Source: RBR

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NBC’s best 10 o’clock numbers last week came Thursday, where “The Marriage Ref” (3.4 rating/10 share in adults 18-49, 7.71 million viewers overall) won its hour among young adults. In its second half-hour, though, a declining “Ref” won by only a tick over the Eye crime drama (3.2/9 to 3.1/9), which won the hour rather comfortably in adults 25-54.

Source: Variety

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Jay revealed to Access Hollywood’s Tony Potts that he recently helped out with Jerry’s “The Marriage Ref.”

“I did a guest spot on it,” Jay told Tony, referring to the new NBC primetime show that features celebrity panelists who weigh in on a conflict between spouses.

“It’s a fun show,” Jay commented. “I liked doing it.”

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Actress Eva Longoria Parker shared some of her own marriage secrets as she helped settle warring couples’ domestic disputes on new TV series The Marriage Ref.

The Desperate Housewives beauty told how she “made” basketball star husband Tony Parker get a tattoo on his ring finger because he has to take off his wedding band on the court.

She joined a celebrity panel with show creator Jerry Seinfeld and comedienne Tina Fey to argue the cases to Marriage Ref Tom Papa before he decided if the husband or wife was the winner.

Read more: Monsters and Critics

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Watch a preview of the singer joining Brit comedian Ricky Gervais and Larry David to talk about couples’ problems.
In a special preview clip, you can see Madonna, in a grey dress with fishnet tights, black heels and blonde tousled locks, hold her own against Ricky Gervais and Larry David as they debate marital disputes.

Other panelists on the show include Desperate Housewives’ Eva Longoria Parker and 30 Rock’s Tina Fey.

Source: In Style

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Here are some of the reviews of the first episode of ‘The Marriage Ref’:

EW:
…there was an undeniable spontaneity not only among the premiere’s guest judges — Alec Baldwin, Kelly Ripa, and Seinfeld — but also during the taped segments featuring the couples who provided the arguments. Granted, my defenses were weakened by the mind-blowing Olympics finale that included William Shatner spouting Dadaist poetry, but I thought The Marriage Ref was silly fun.
Hosted by Tom Papa, an excellent stand-up comic (he killed on a recent David Letterman), The Marriage Ref is just what you’ve seen in the ads. We and the judges watched tape of a couple’s outlandish argument, and Papa referees the dispute by concluding, “I’m ready to make the call!”

NY Times:
A simple search of Twitter Sunday night yielded thousands of comments about the show. Some of the comments were upbeat, calling the show “hilarious,” but many more, it seemed, were savagely critical. Television critics were virtually united in their disapproval. “Divorce papers have been filed. West Coasters, you’ve been warned,” wrote Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly.
But the Twitter buzz during the East Coast preview was so bad that Daniel Fienberg of HitFix said “it wouldn’t surprise me if NBC airs an ‘Office’ repeat at 10:30 PT,” shorthand for Pacific time.

Others joked about bringing Mr. Leno back to prime time.

NY Daily News:
Even without a replay, the consensus call on Jerry Seinfeld’s new “Marriage Ref” so far is, “Yer out.”

That’s not what struggling NBC wants to hear about the long-awaited new Seinfeld project on which it spent its most valuable promotion slot, the half-hour after the Olympics Sunday.

But then, “The Marriage Ref” didn’t give NBC much to hang its hype on. It turned out to be a flimsy “reality” show in which celebrities milk a silly videotaped argument between a civilian couple for way more jokes than it deserves and then pick a “winner.”

Time called it “the most God-awful mishmash of a comedy-variety show.” Long-time Hartford Courant critic Roger Catlin said “absolutely nothing funny happened.” Greg Evans of the Huffington Post said Seinfeld “owes us nothing and delivered in spades.”

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Tempers flared as twice-divorced Madonna weighed in with her views on married couples’ real-life domestic disputes in new US TV show The Marriage Ref.

On the show, the pair get the hump when they realise the Ref – US comic Tom Papa – has the power to ignore the votes of the celebrity panel on whether the husband or wife wins the row.
Madonna shouts: “It’s two against two!” after Papa sides against her and Gervais.
Papa, who takes the side of fellow panel member and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David, tells her: “I have the final say.”
Gervais asks: “What are we here for? It was two to one! Why does he get the final vote?”
Papa says: “You’re the advisers but I make the ruling.”
But defiant Madonna refuses to back down and hits back: “Why? You’re not the panel.”

Read more: Monsters and Critics