Odds Aren't Good for Khloe and Lamar

SOURCE: http://www.popeater.com/2009/09/30/khloe-kardashian-lamar-odom-reality-couple-curse/

Think twice before you pick up a Cuisinart or monogrammed towel set to send to Khloe Kardashian and her new hubby L.A. Laker Lamar Odom in celebration of their quickie Sunday evening nuptials. According to the very scientific mathematics of reality television statistics, this marriage may have a shelf life shorter than one of Kim Kardashian's skirts.

Forget about the fact that Khloe and Lamar have known each other for about a month. Who cares that he is on the road for six months out of the year. Laugh off all the baggage each of them is bringing to this union (He has two kids from a previous relationship and she is a Kardashian).

The reason that Khloe and Lamar won't be sitting on that metaphorical front porch swing well into their golden years is because marriages that play out on reality television simply don't work out. We'd love to say the opposite, but we're just going on history here.

"Most reality television marriages are formed under false conditions with six-week production schedules and are usually based solely on immediate lust." said Life & Style Executive Editor Jared Shapiro. "Once the couple gets home the REAL reality sets in. Plus, once you are off the show, people stop caring about you. Reality stars often have a really hard time dealing with the loss of fame."

Danger sign number one is that Khloe and Lamar have already let the whirlwind of reality romance take precedence over their relationship. The pair reportedly rushed to the altar in order to stay on the demanding shooting schedule for E!'s 'Keeping up With the Kardashian's' where the wedding will air at a later date -- most likely to astronomical ratings.

"The biggest ratings grabbers are babies, weddings and deaths. This year alone we've seen Kourtney get pregnant, Khloe tie the knot and the entire Kardashian clan front and center -- with camera crew -- for Michael Jackson's funeral," dished Jarett Wieselman, senior entertainment writer for the New York Post's PopWrap. "When you take into account the fact that Khloe and Lamar have only been dating for a month, I wouldn't be surprised if Khloe's show lasts longer than her marriage!"

Let's take a look at the track record of marriages that have played out in front of the cameras starting with television's most famous newlyweds, Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. After three years of marriage mostly spent in front of MTV cameras, the pair parted ways. Soon after, 'Newlywed' spin-offs ran amok with Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro in 'Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave' and Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler in 'Meet the Barkers.' Both marriages self-destructed soon after the shows finished airing.

But long-term unions run the risk of falling apart once the cameras start rolling as well. Take a look at Jon and Kate Gosselin, who after nearly a decade of marriage and eight kids, split up due to the pressures of reality television. Or Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, a couple who weathered both crack-cocaine and endless renditions of 'My Prerogative,' but finally called it quits following the Bravo show, 'Being Bobby Brown.' Even wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan couldn't fight off the reality curse, as his marriage crumbled under the lights of 'Hogan Knows Best.'

Ronnie Karam, senior editor of TVgasm.com explains that television marriages are doomed to fail for a variety of reasons, but mainly because the camera doesn't lie.

"You have to see how stupid you actually look together, which most of us can avoid ... except for the wedding pictures. All of your flaws, and worse, and all of your mate's flaws, are there for the world to see and comment on. If most people knew the crap I put up with in my relationship, they'd tell me to dump the loser and eventually I'd listen. But in private, he's my hopeless loser."