New Yorkers, here are the people representing you on prime-time television this season:
Anastasia Kurinnaya, 26, is part of Lifetime’s “Russian Dolls,” a “Jersey Shore”-ish show that follows eight Brighton Beach Russians. The series premiers Thursday, Aug. 11, at 10:30 p.m.
It is one of three shows in the works featuring New Yorkers. The second is “Rat Busters NYC,” which profiles two exterminators, and the third is “Paint the Town,” following art gallery workers.
Promising a “famous, alluring, vibrant and highly protective community,” “Russian Dolls” features shots of tanned, fur-clad women drinking vodka, hanging out in bars and, of course — this being reality TV — even getting into a few hair-pulling brawls.
Kurinnaya, who moved to Brooklyn from Ukraine when she was 3, was working in a medical office when she read about the show in a newspaper ad and applied.
“Not everyone gets a chance to do this,” she told Metro. “I always wanted to be on camera. I always wanted to be a celebrity. I thought, why not?”
The beach-based show will portray Brooklynites in all their glory — and Kurinnaya did not rule out a bar fight or two.
“There’s a lot of drama, I’ll just say that,” she said.
Equally dramatic will be rat-chasers Jimmy Tallman and Michael Morales, who battle roaches and vermin while cameras capture the action. “It shows the pressure, dealing with pests,” Morales said. “It’s constant: bed bugs, rats, roaches. It just never stops, and it’s indicative of New York.”
Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro.
