A&E plans series about stay-at-home dads

There seems to be a reality television series about every subgroup of humanity these days: New Jersey party animals, various region-specific housewives, people with beards who do something involving ducks, and so on. Now, A&E is offering a new reality series about a group of people who are always good for a laugh: dads.

"Modern Dads," which was greenlit in May and premiers in August, is a about real-life dad buddies Nathan, Sean, Stone, and Rick. The fatherly quartet are stay-at-home pops in Austin, Texas. An A&E news release describes the show’s premise like this: “They're like a fraternity, but this time around, all-nighters, babes in your bed, empty bottles and projectile vomit carry a whole new meaning.”

As is the case with most reality television, each dad has his own persona. Nathan is the “newbie,” Rick is the “MacGyver-type,” Sean is the “unfiltered comic” and Stone is “single (and looking),” says A&E’s release. The new series is expected to follow the dudes’ fatherhood adventures while their significant others pursue careers.

Some of A&E’s reality programs have generated controversy, such as "Intervention," a show about substance abuse addicts that critics have described as exploitative. Promotional materials for "Modern Dads" suggest that it, too, could rub some people the wrong way. A commercial for the program shows a father securing a baby’s diaper with a piece of duct tape, and a news release for the show says one of the dads has a 5-year-old daughter who he is “not opposed to using as chick bait.”

But A&E is banking on audiences finding this "Four Horsedads of the Dudepocalypse" amusing and endearing. Some members of the group have known each other since college, said a publicist. “They've stuck together from hanging around bars as college students to strolling around the neighborhood park as trophy husbands and dads,” says the station’s news release.

"Modern Dads" premiers Aug. 21 at 10:30 p.m. on A&E.