Scottsdale, Arizona, is many things, but it seems like one of them would be the perfect setting for a reality show.
There's money, there's partying, there's the results of what happens when money and partying mix. There's also a certain, shall we say, attitude that this is where all the beautiful people belong. Everyone else is just a tourist on the look-at-me tour. Locals don't call it "Snotsdale" for nothing.
Kidding, kidding. Mostly. Scottsdale probably gets an unfair rap. Although you'd never know it from "Team Moms: Baseball." The new reality show, streaming on Paramount+, is set at a private academy in Scottsdale where, according to the parents, the students spend two hours in school and the rest of the day working on baseball. Kim Kardashian,
star and creator of one of reality TV's most infamous shows, is serving as the executive producer in a collaboration with Kim Kardashian Productions.
There is a lot of gossip and backbiting and the occasional happy hour, plus a little baseball thrown in. It's kind of gross and kind of entertaining, like so much reality TV. And it leaves Arizona viewers with a question.
What took so long?
Scottsdale seems like the perfect place for reality TV
This week on Valley 101, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we answer the question: Is Scottsdale the perfect place for a reality show?
You'd certainly think so. But aside from occasional visits, there's no "Real Housewives of Scottsdale" franchise. Seems like a missed opportunity, but who knows?
Dina Kaur, probably. She's a reporter for The Arizona Republic who writes often about reality TV. In this episode, we talk to her about the state of reality TV in Arizona and some shows on the horizon. We also talk to Paola Boivin, a groundbreaking sportswriter, the director of the Cronkite News Phoenix Sports Bureau at Arizona State University and, importantly, a former sports mom. She has some strong feelings about the importance of youth sports and how shows like "Team Moms: Baseball" affect it.
Listen to the episode
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Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Subscribe to the weekly Watchlist newsletter.
This episode was produced by Amanda Luberto and Tori Weiss. You can reach Amanda at amanda.luberto@arizonarepublic.com or follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @amandaluberto. Reach Tori at tkweiss@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Scottsdale finally has a reality TV show. What took so long?
