''Russian Dolls'' is an American reality television series on

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

. The series debuted on August 11, 2011 and finished on October 7, 2011. The series follows the lives of eight Russian-American families living in

Brighton Beach, New York Brighton Beach is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island proper at Ocean Parkway to the ...

Production and Cancellation

The show premiered on August 11, 2011 at 10:30/9:30c following hit series '' Project Runway''. The show premiered to low ratings with a 0.4 rating in adults 18–49 demo and only 0.97 million viewers watching the episode. While the series was in pre-production,

originally chose to name the series Brighton Beach'' but was later changed to its current title. The series was deemed a ''

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May Po ...

''-esque reality series even before the title change. On August 23, 2011,

moved the series to a later time slot, at 11:30/10:30c following a Dance Moms repeat. On September 21, 2011, Lifetime announced that the series will be

burned off In American broadcast programming, "burning off" is the custom of quickly airing the remaining episodes of a television program, usually one that has already been or is planned to be cancelled, without the intent to attract a large number of vie ...

and the last five episodes of the series aired on October 7, 2011, as a special marathon event.

Episodes

Reception

The '' New York Press'' stated that "while ''Russian Dolls'' is ultimately a Brooklyn Jersey Shore, its unique focus on and respect for Russian culture and parenthood elevates it above the typical reality show drivel." The Wall Street Journal wrote that "Having the opportunity to mash up something as Russian as Brighton Beach with something as American as reality TV really drives home the fact that there’s a place where KGB-era ways and Kim Kardashian can meet." The show has been criticized for having

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

women appear as some of its " Russian dolls". The ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...

'' noted that the show "reinforces every negative stereotype about Russian women." ''

Pravda.ru Pravda.ru (russian: Правда.Ру, lit=truth) formerly Pravda Online, is a Russian news website established in 1999 and owned by Pravda.ru Holding headed by Vadim Gorshenin. History After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the oldest Soviet ...

'' described the show as "a spit in Russia's face." The '' New York Times'' remarked that "If the Soviet authorities had wanted to torture Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn beyond endurance, they would have forced him to watch ''Russian Dolls''." '' AM New York'' describes the show as "so busily edited ...that there’s no flavor of any kind" adding that "If nothing else, this show might make us more appreciative of all the effort those “Jersey Shore” folks put into their portrayals."

References

{{Lifetime Shows 2010s American reality television series 2011 American television series debuts 2011 American television series endings English-language television shows Lifetime (TV network) original programming Russian-American culture in New York City Television shows set in New York City