from www.newteevee.com – The porn community is an odd one, made up as it is of people with relaxed sexual morals but oftentimes the same cravings for security and family that those in less X-rated professions might share. And that’s the unexpected surprise of Mommy XXX, a new reality series from Crackle that chronicles the life of Demi Delia, an actively working porn star with two teenage children and a ginormous rack.

The format is pretty straight-up reality documentary, paced well for the web medium with relatively few signs of staged scenarios, and those interviewed are remarkably candid about their lives and opinions. There’s a sense that the producers are hoping to invoke the same outrageous behavior of The Osbournes from this clan, but that’s hardly the case with Brandi and Chris, who love their mom but express their teenage rebellion by eating vegan and actively rejecting her porn star lifestyle. In a episode provided for review, the kids bail out early from their mom’s birthday party, Chris stating flatly, “I hate porn stars — they’re gross.” Given what he’s probably seen during his lifetime, you can hardly blame him for saying so.

Delia’s family consists of more than her children, as she seems constantly surrounded by friends from the industry, who make even a trip to the plastic surgeon into a party. There’s a lot of potential for interesting stories from this set-up, most especially the relationship between Demi and her ex-husband Randy Sparks, a “legendary” porn star with whom she is still friendly. But the awkward tension between the two former spouses is clear, especially when, in an episode provided for review, the two work together in a sex scene. But as they’re both old pros, the scene goes well — except, of course, for some back and neck trouble. So far, there’s not much information about Demi’s background, how she got her start in porn, or even the identity and whereabouts of Brandi and Chris’s father (no, not Randy), material which will hopefully be fodder for the upcoming 12 episodes.

The title is catchy but too obvious, and many of the little touches that go into an episode (using clown horns to bleep out profanity, superimposing smiley faces and hearts over the many instances of nudity) are cutesy enough to detract from the intimate nature of the character portrait here. Because sure, Mommy XXX dances often on the TMI line, especially in the first episode, which provides a blunt look at the highly unnatural process by which Demi and her fellow porn stars attain their unnatural curves. But the real intimacy is the show’s candid approach to the conflicts driving Demi’s life. In interview segments, the chyron text labels Demi as two things: porn star and mother of two. The unasked question is — for how long exactly can she be both?