Former Mafia family goes straight in ‘Unprotected’
Mob life: If the Cantarellas harbor any fears of being whacked, they’re certainly not showing it.The one-time Mob family has gone from participating in the Federal Witness Protection Program to pretty much the exact opposite: starring in their own reality TV series. “Unprotected” follows the Cantarellas, once linked to one of New York’s biggest Mafia families, as they live a new life on the straight and narrow in Scottsdale, Arizona.The docu-comedy series premieres Tuesday, April 11, on Oxygen.
Patriarch Richard “Shellackhead” Cantarella was born and raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and, as a young man, was introduced to the Bonanno family, one of the Five Families in New York City. He became involved in the sort of illegal activities typically associated with the Mob, and worked his way up to a prominent position in the family.
In 2002, Cantarella was arrested on a 24-count RICO indictment that included murder, arson, kidnapping, extortion and money laundering. Realizing he was looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars, he accepted a plea bargain deal and turned government witness, turning on his Mafia chums. His testimony helped put New York Mafia bosses Joseph Massino and Vincent Basciano behind bars.
Evidently, Mob bosses don’t like being ratted out, so Cantarella and his family left New York, went into witness protection in 2011 and have since been laying low — until now.The family has left the witness protection program and, in Cantarella’s first legitimate business venture, opened a couple of car washes in Arizona.
To say the least, the brassy, boisterous family sticks out like a sore thumb on the uber-suburban streets of the gated community of Scottsdale. “Unprotected” provides a humorous look at the fish-out-of-water shtick as Richard and his brood go about their regular-Joe lives — presumably without resorting to murder, loansharking or racketeering.
The matriarch of the family is Lauretta, Richard’s wife of 52 years, who loves and dotes on her family and also threatens to slap them silly. Daughter Tracey, mother of two, runs one of the car washes, and son Paul — who, like his father, was heavily involved in the Bonanno family’s shady activities back in New York — also helps with the family business. Paul’s kids, Richie and Toni Ann, are the third generation of Cantarellas in the series.
The premiere episode sees Richard and Lauretta track down the writer of a less-than-stellar Yelp review of the car wash, and try to get him to remove the damning comments, while Toni and Richie, in a much more logical (and less Mob-ish) move, make a commercial in the attempt to mend the business’s reputation. Check it out when “Unprotected” debuts Tuesday, April 11, on Oxygen.
Here comes Mama: Who doesn’t love a good makeover story? Fans (and non-fans) of the erstwhile TLC series “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” no doubt remember “Mama” June Shannon, the large and in-charge pageant mother of the titular Alana “Honey Boo Boo”Thompson. Mama June has found a new home on WEtv, and after making some big life changes and shedding more than 200 pounds, the mother of four is barely recognizable. Catch up with Mama June and her daughters with a new episode of “Mama June: From Not to Hot,” airing Friday,April 14, on WEtv.
The Honey Boo Boo family first found reality TV fame in “Toddlers & Tiaras” as Alana made her way through the child beauty pageant circuit.The spinoff, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” caught a lot of flak throughout its run, yet still managed to draw an audience and survive for four seasons.The series was canceled following reports that Mike “Sugar Bear ”Thompson, Alana’s father and June’s common-law husband, was a registered sex offender.The show was promptly ousted from the network in August 2014, with a fifth season remaining unaired.
Evidently, you can’t keep the Honey Boo Boo gang down for long. June and Sugar Bear had an unsuccessful stint in WEtv’s “Marriage Boot Camp” before she finally kicked him to the curb due to his infidelity, but the deplorable Sugar Bear still isn’t out of the picture. In fact, he’s not even off the air. He pops up in the premiere of “Not to Hot” to inform June that he’s engaged and wants her at the wedding.
According to June, this inspired her to make some major life changes to shed her excess weight. She’s gone under the knife multiple times, including gastric sleeve surgery and a breast lift, and the new series follows her in her continuing quest towards physical transformation. Along with some much-needed dietary changes (no more revolting “sketti,” for starters), she’s acquired the services of personal trainer Kenya Crooks and has slimmed down exponentially.The series also follows her on a series of disastrous dates as she tries to turn her social life around after 11 years with Sugar Bear.
It’s quite the transformation, both inside and out. Catch a new episode of “Mama June: From Not to Hot,” airing Friday, April 14, on WEtv.