Review of 39 Second Single

By 01/01/2008
Review of 39 Second Single

Cure all your dating woes at 39 Second Single , where a two-woman team of television producers including Liza Persky and Mary C. Matthews have put together a show dedicated to the comic encounters of the single, stressed, and looking for love.

Persky, the main host of the show is an Emmy award winning producer, best known for her work with the Rosie O’Donnell Show . Matthews is a writer and producer with a background in comedy writing for television and the web. She has previously worked with Buena Vista Television, American Movie Classics, and FUSE. 39 Second Single was launched in December 2006, just after the two women established Pound Productions, a company which focuses on original programming for television and the web.

In addition to 39 Second Single, they collaborated with Jeff Jarvis‘ Exploding Video Productions in February 2007 to create the Idol Critic, which featured Persky delivering delightfully snarky reviews of American Idol season 6 episodes and the wanna-be pop kings and queens that were competing to win the nation’s heart.  The women also produce web shows, Debate Porridge, related to the 2008 presidential race, and Fabulous Tonight, which covers gay lifestyle topics.

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The pair appeared on the Today Show in April 2007 to discuss their web shows – Matthews described 39 Second Single “as a way to embrace the struggles of being single but also the humor of it.”

Get ready to laugh, especially if you have taken more than one ride on the mad, loopy, and at times ridiculous, New York dating roller coaster that all hopeful singles living in the city must inevitably board. The concept of the show as well as its content is inspired by Persky’s own dating experiences as a 39-year-old single woman in Manhattan ardently seeking her perfect match.

Persky, with her fiery red hair and easy-going nature, is the kind of host most people can relate to, particularly because she is refreshingly real. In the classic first episode, ” Steak Tar, Tar,” Persky recounts a date set up by her matchmaking father with his yoga instructor, who just happens to love, that’s right– steak tartare. In an effort to please the yogi, Persky, a pollotarian hater of all red meat forces herself to down raw ground beef, braving “botulism,” but still, sadly, doesn’t get a call back.  Other episodes surround the follies of double dating, going to the movies alone, hitting on baby-face bartenders and the perils of online dating

In the first season users were invited to vote for one favorite out of three of Persky’s online dating prospects, tag named: “Cinnamon,” ” Nantucket,” and “JFK, Jr.” Spicy “Cinnamon” won viewers choice. User participation on the site is also encouraged through a comments section attached to each episode.

To be smart, funny and endearing in a span of around 5 minutes has got to be hard, but Persky, while curiously unsuccessful with men, seems to know just how to please an audience. 
Episode 17, in which Persky discusses just what a person’s groceries say about them, is amusingly enlightening, especially when she discovers the check-out clerk slipped a flier on “How to Pick-up Men” into her shopping bag.

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