Raising Sextuplets Not as Good as Jon and Kate Plus Eight?

Joe Toreno/WE tv

Jenny and Bryan Masche are often referred to as the anti-Gosselins. Sure, there are similar themes in their series about parenting a six-pack, called Raising Sextuplets (WE tv, Thursday, 10 p.m. ET). Like Jon & Kate Plus 8, their show is also styled like a documentary, with couple interviews edited in. And they do trod through the same "storylines" that the Pennsylvania pair did, like visiting a children's museum or a pumpkin picking trip. But on their show, Bryan's a lovable goofball, and Jenny's always beaming her sparkly-white smile at him. Certainly, no one's getting busted by paparrazi for partying with underage coeds, etc. "The only similarity I see between us is that we both have sextuplets," Jenny said recently in an interview with babble.com.

And therein lies a problem, because other peoples' cute kids—with no other drama to spice things up—can only hold your attention for so long. Take the family's finger-painting excursion at the children's museum. It's easy to picture the scene: Cute kids splattered in bright paint. Bryan and Jenny having a gentle, playful paint fight. And then gushing declarations like this one from Jenny:

"Bailey has it all over her face! They have never had the freedom to get this messy! This is so cool. With one person at home and six children, you're so busy just corralling them and keeping them out of trouble, they don't get to do these kinds of crafts. This is so unusual!"

Uh-huh. We've seen this before—when Jon and Kate take their eight to the Crayola Factory. Except in that episode, regular viewers can already sense the underlying drama; fans know that Kate's compulsion for cleanliness borders on obsessive. So the tension builds up as she tries in vain to maintain order (and eight clean shirts) while her clueless husband offers next to no help. Will she lose her cool? And how will he react? That's good TV. The adorably paint-splattered kids are just the icing on the cake.

"My life seems really boring to me," Jenny also told babble.com. I nodded in agreement when I read it.

But fortunately for viewers (though maybe not for this couple), all that joyful Masche noise is about to sound a little…crankier. Thursday night's episode chronicles the four days the pair spent house hunting in Florida. As Jenny explains in the promo, "it brought out the worst in both of us."

The Masches' "worst" is genuine, but extremely G-rated, anger. We are treated to marital fights that come off—sometimes hilariously—like sixth-graders trying too hard to act cool. And the unintentional humor makes the show, well, more fun to watch.

"It's time to stop dorking around and put on your big girl panties and get serious," Bryan tells his pouty wife.

"Brian, you're not using your brain," she retorts.

"No, you're not using your brain!" he counters. Good one!

It's doubtful that the anti-Gosselins will ever end up in divorce court. But imagine the entertainment value of these two duking it out on dueling magazine covers! One can only hope.

Do you find Raising Sextuplets less interesting than Jon & Kate Plus 8 because of the lack of marital drama?

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