Looking Back: When ‘The Mommies’ were Petaluma’s favorite local comedians

Caryl Kristensen and Marilyn Kentz - aka The Mommies - are certainly not the only former Petalumans who went on the have network television sitcoms based on their lives. Rick Reynolds did it, too, though his show - 1997’s “Life … and Stuff,” co-starring Pam Dawber - lasted a fraction of a season, while Kristensen and Kentz’ NBC show, sensibly titled “The Mommies,” lasted two whole seasons, from September 1993 to June 1995.

It was 25 years ago that the Argus-Courier broke the news that Petaluma’s funniest mothers were going to get their own show (see excerpt, in sidebar). Based on an acclaimed live comedy act the two friends had been touring around the country, the television series poked fun at suburban mommy-?hood, but was never quite as funny as the live show had been, despite Kristensen and Kentz serving as writers and co-producers on the show.

The social significance and comedic genius of that original stage show cannot be over-emphasized. It came at a time when cozy, gauzy, traditional depictions of motherhood were finally giving way to more realistic examinations of the thankless toil and under-appreciated hard work of trying to be the perfect minivan-and-PTA mom and/or wife. Their Saturday Night Live-style approach to lampooning the details of modern motherhood turned Kristensen and Kentz into heroes to a generation of suburban moms. Fans felt they were seeing their own lives for the first time, accurately and hilariously recreated on stage in The Mommies’ various sketches and musical numbers.

That it didn’t work so well as a TV sitcom was more about the clunky, clueless machinery of Hollywood than it was about Kristensen and Kentz’s spot-on comedic talents. The show, though it certainly tried, seemed tepid and safe compared to the scathing and sarcastic original tone of the Mommies’ live stage show.

Still, the chemistry the two friends demonstrated was so strong that Hollywood tried another way to capture a bit of it for television audiences, and in 1996, ABC premiered “Caryl and Marilyn: Real Friends,’ a morning talk-show that had the misfortune of being scheduled against “The Price is Right.” As it so happens, after the new show was canceled in 1997, it was quickly replaced with “The View,” a ratings behemoth that is still on the air 21 years later.

As for The Mommies, Kentz and Kristensen long go stopped performing or touring under that name, and have each taken radically different post-television paths. Kristensen eventually went on to become a high school counselor, then helped start a video interview service called ZipIntro. Kentz, meanwhile, has continued performing, having created various one-woman-shows including “Will I Ever Wear a Bikini Again?” which she launched in 2014. She teaches workshops on the subect of “Fearless Aging” and other topics, and has authored a number of books, including “Not Your Mother’s Midlife: Ten Steps to Fearless Aging.” Her husband Richard passed away in April of 2014. Kentz now lives in Berkeley.

One final note: At the height of The Mommies fame, the duo’s website offered information about their appearances, projects and opinions of life. Oddly enough, anyone attempting to log onto TheMommies.com now will be directed to a sparse online parking lot of links to information about teen pregnancy, sex, dating, and the like.

There’s a strong idea for a comedy skit there somewhere.

(Contact David at david.?templeton@arguscourier.com)