‘Double Divas,’ beware, implants

By now, reality-TV viewers know that much of the action in so-called unscripted shows has been planned and plotted in advance. They appreciate it when the fakery is at least kept to a minimum.

Lifetime’s new series “Double Divas,” set in an Atlanta lingerie shop that specializes in bras for hard-to-fit sizes, features two women with telegenic jobs and personalities that would seem to render unnecessary the false setups that are endemic in workplace reality shows. But the producers evidently couldn’t resist sweetening the mix. Since those elements are relatively unobtrusive in this show, however, viewers can squint and enjoy it.

Previewing on Tuesday, Jan. 1, at 10:30 p.m., before going to its regular time slot on Thursday, Jan. 10, at 10, “Double Divas” features Molly Hopkins and Cynthia Richards, the co-owners of a shop called LiviRae Lingerie. Molly, a busty brunette, is in charge of sizing customers. “I honestly believe that I’ve seen more boobs than Hugh Hefner,” she says.

Cynthia, whom Molly calls the “mad inventor,” is in charge of creating new designs for special customers. Some of these make money, Molly says, but most don’t.

In the episode provided for review, Cynthia tells Molly that she saw a woman on TV who supposedly has the largest natural breasts in the world. Cynthia contacts the woman, who goes by the punning pseudonym Norma Stitz, offering to help her out. Norma travels all the way from Virginia to get fitted.

One doesn’t have to be a cynic to assume that the producers not only set the meeting up but are paying for it. Still, Norma is a sight to behold. She keeps a full-size handbag in her cleavage.

Cynthia and Molly seem sincere in their desire to give her a comfortable means of support. Cynthia pulls an all-nighter putting together something that looks like two small parachutes sewed together.

The episode’s other story line rings false throughout. The women have a sales associate named Loren, a striking young blonde who says she’s a singer in an all-girl group called the Coeds. Molly says a lingerie shop needs a sexy salesgirl, but most viewers will suspect that Loren was hired a day before the series began filming.

Loren takes a call from a socialite named Tiffany and tells the partners that Tiffany wants to have a lingerie bachelorette party. Molly and Cynthia arrive up at Tiffany’s house with naughty panties and whips, only to find a group of sedate women being served tea and sandwiches.

Molly and Crystal do their best to loosen up the “snooty hooties,” but they chastise Loren the next day. Ashamed, Loren hides her face in one of Norma’s bra cups.

Just to keep us interested, the show is interspersed with shots of normal-sized women trying on tiny garments.

None of this would work if Molly and Crystal’s shtick weren’t so unforced. Molly says something outrageous — at a restaurant, she asks if the cute waiter is listed with the specials — and Crystal looks unamused and gets back to her point. The show’s best moments are when they’re just chatting.

One would think that, given their business, Molly and Crystal know that natural is best. It would have been nice to see “Double Divas” without all the padding and implants.

Tags: desire, Double Divas, hugh hefner, jobs, Norma Stitz, reality, reality shows, reality TV, time, tv, TV viewers, unscripted shows, viewers