First there were “Real Housewives”, then “Basketball Wives”, and now there’s “Mob Wives”.
According to the press release, VH1 will premiere a new ten-episode reality series called “Mob Wives” Sunday, April 17. The show, which will center around four women who grew up in and/or married someone with connections to New York’s mob world, will show how they grapple with their families’ past while trying to raise straight-arrow children and separate themselves from the crime world.
According to TWC’s President of Television Meryl Poster and EVP Original Programming and Production, VH1 Jeff Olde, the show will take viewers where most people haven’t gone.
“Reality is a young genre that continues to grow and is taking us into ever more fascinating places,” said Poster. “‘Mob Wives’ provides an unprecedented & illuminating glimpse into a New York community that has long captured the public imagination. To watch these four women who have become heads of households by default is both heartbreaking and mesmerizing. As a New York based company, TWC is thrilled that our neighbors across the river in Staten Island have so graciously welcomed us and soon the public into their lives.”
“‘Mob Wives’ is one of the most authentic and compelling series we’ve ever done at VH1,” said Olde. “At its heart are four strong women who either grew up in ‘the life,’ or married into it. They are all now at a defining moment, picking up the pieces and carrying on as their husbands or fathers do time. Each woman is re-examining her life to determine what’s best for her and her children.”
Jimmy Fox, Electus Development Executive and Executive Producer, also said, “We are so thrilled to be partnered with Vh1 and The Weinstein Company on such a powerful and dynamic series, and we cannot wait to introduce the world to these four extraordinary women.”
Here’s a look at the four women featured in the show, as stated in the press release:
Renee Graziano is like any other single mother, trying to raise her teenage son AJ to be a good man. But Renee’s own childhood was not like most other kids. She grew up during the heyday of the mob, enjoying the lavish lifestyle that her father Anthony Graziano’s alleged connections afforded her. But now that AJ’s father and her ex-husband “Junior” has been arrested, she’s slowly realizing that this is not a life she wants her son to lead. She now struggles to balance her allegiance to the street life with her hopes that her son will live a life that’s free of it.
Karen Gravano was just 19 years old when her father turned on the mafia, a move that left Karen devastated. She has spent the last 12 years in Arizona fighting to become her own person and understanding the choices made by her father Sammy “The Bull” Gravano who helped the government take down John Gotti and the Gambino crime family. Now, she is ready to start over and return to Staten Island to reconnect and rebuild old relationships as she confronts her family’s notorious past.
Drita D’avanzo comes from a strict Albanian household and defied her parents by marrying an Italian, someone outside their community. Tough as nails, Drita plays hard and is fiercely protective of her inner circle and her two young girls that she is raising alone while her husband does a second stint in prison for bank robbery. She now grapples with her husband’s misdeeds and the consequences of falling in love with and marrying a man who has been in prison for many years. Drita is finally questioning whether she should stay with him or start anew.
Carla Facciolo had a similar upbringing to Renee Graziano. In fact, her father went to prison when she was a young girl. Carla thought she had finally gotten away from the lifestyle she lived growing up — until her husband was convicted of stock fraud and sentenced to an 8-year stretch in federal prison. Now a stay-at-home mom trying to make ends meet, she still hasn’t told their twins the truth of their dad’s whereabouts because she feels they are too young to know. But he’s getting out of jail soon, and Carla’s decided to leave him and go out on her own. But how will she do that?
Additional information can be found at the show’s website, MobWives.VH1.com. The episodes will also be available on the website after they’ve aired on television.
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