Maverick had his Goose. Comedian Cat Davis had Mary Louise Parker. Steve Carrell's Andy had not one but three wingmen looking out for him. But blogger Kayli Stollak may have the wingman that tops them all: her grandmother.
The 24-year-old New York resident launched www.grannyismywingman.com back in July of 2011 to chronicle her dating adventures on OKCupid! and her 75-year-old Grandmother Gail's forays into J-Date.
The blog, peppered with Grandma's hilarious one-liners like "He betta put his pants back on before he hurts himself" has garnered 30,000 hits in its first month alone, The Daily Mail reports.
In an interview with The Mail, Kayli said her older sister's success with Match.com, where she met her current boyfriend, was what finally convinced both her and her Grandma to try online dating.
In one entry, Kayli describes creating her grandmother's profile for her over the phone -- showing that some concerns don't disappear with age:
Body type? I suggested we put down petite, she preferred adding shapely or voluptuous. The ultimate deceiver insisted we significantly decrease her age. For 75, she's a hot commodity, but still I thought it would be best to stick with the truth. "They're all doin' it, trust me kid," she insisted. "And I betcha they all put down that they listen to jazz. They think it makes 'em sound young and hip. Like, look at me, I listen to the horn!"
At the end of the day, it's hard to tell if the blog's popularity should be attributed entirely to the wit of Kayli and her Grandmother (I'd happily have her as my wing woman!) or if it's connected to what appears to be a growing public interest in older women's sexuality (see Betty White's "I'm Still Hot" video and these saucy Grandma ads for Crosby's molasses). If the most recent post, "Whole Foods Hooker," is any indication, Grandma doesn't need any help from the Internet or her granddaughter to score a date.
Whatever the secret to the blog's success, Gail and Kayli's story may not be as uncommon as you might think. 40 million people use online dating sites in the US, and some sites like eHarmony specifically targets seniors. The average age of users across all sites is 48 -- which for this 24-year old and her Grandma works out just about right.