Tori and Dean are back with a new season of their popular Oxygen reality series. This show has evolved this it first debuted a couple of years ago. What started out as two semi-broke-semi-celebs trying to get a B&B started up has grown and developed much like Tori and Dean’s family and careers. When the new season starts up, Tori, Dean, Liam and Stella are living in a new house. You might be asking, didn’t they just buy a new house last season? Yes, part of last season’s plot involved the celeb-couple finding and purchasing their “dream home.” That house was perfect but not quite big enough for all of them. You’d think they would’ve thought of that when they purchased the home. Kind of like when you were a kid and your parents always bought shoes that were a half a size too big so there’d be room to grow? Or were my parents the only parents that did that?
So Tori and Dean have a new house and are in the process of trying to sell their own house. On top of that, Tori’s working hard on her book and returning to her Donna Martin role in the new 90210. Meanwhile, Dean’s got a movie of the week thing he’s working on and a new hobby riding motorcycles. And then of course, there’s their marriage and kids to tend to. What we come to find out from Tori in the season premiere is that she really wants to spend more time with the kids. The problem is, she’s so busy with work and juggling her careeer, fun and kids is becoming somewhat of a challenge. Fortunately, their nanny Patsy has returned to help with the kids but she’s having health issues that are keeping her off her feet.
One of the things I like about this reality show is that Tori and Dean seem comfortable enough around the cameras to discuss personal things like their marital and family issues. It makes them relatable on a certain level. The issue of Tori’s desire to be a stay at home mom conflicting with her desire to achieve professional success seems to be one of the bigger story arcs we’re seeing this season. It’s evident that she wants to grab her re-budding career by the horns but she also sees how fast Liam and Stella are growing up already and she doesn’t want to miss a moment of it. I’m sure there are many women out there that can appreciate that dilemma, although considering the difference in Tori’s paychecks as opposed to the salary of the average Tori & Dean viewer (I’m guessing), it’s a little hard to feel completely sympathetic to Tori on this issue. Still, it’s interesting to watch at the very least and makes for a nice little conflict this season.
From the first two episodes, I’d say this new season of Tori & Dean is shaping up to be a good one. It’ll be interesting to see some of the footage from Tori going back to work on the new 90210.
Tori & Dean – Home Sweet Hollywood
Starring: Tori Spelling, Dean McDermott
Premieres: Tuesday, May 16 at 10:00 pm EST on Oxygen
