Smallscreen Reviews

Bada Bing Bedbugs: ‘Rambug’ A&E's Italian vermin execution squad

By April MacIntyre May 4, 2012, 4:03 GMT

“Rambug,” will premiere on Saturday, May 5 at 10 PM ET/PT.

UPDATE: A&E has bumped this series to summer, date TBA

‘Rambug’ is the story of Brooklyn's Mercante famiglia, who mangia and mouth off together in camouflage gear under the watchful eye of their mama.

As far as reality TV goes, it's less of a shocker than "Jersey Shore," and less dramatic than Big Ang on "Mob Wives."

East coast Italians are pretty popular on TV these days.
 
These city pest killahs get down to business as they cruise New York for rats and roaches, two things that are not in short supply.

Star and alpha male Robert Mercante (Big Rob) is the grease of this series that takes us from his mama's kitchen to a shocking hovel of a hoarder infested with every imaginable bug and rodent.

The Mercantes yell, laugh and bust balls together on a daily basis, and not for nothing, they kill the crawlies dead.

One disturbing scene has the team tackle bedbugs who have so thoroughly infested a room (the woman sleeps there!!) that maggots are feeding on the dead ones on the ceiling and dropping down. The rat removal scenes are hard to watch too.

If you love Italians and watching big reveals of infested feces-laden apartments, this show is for you.

From A&E- show description:

“Rambug,” about a brawny group of hard-working, over-the-top Italian exterminators from Brooklyn who dress in camouflage and wage war on the city’s nastiest critters, will premiere on Saturday, May 5 at 10 PM ET/PT.

Robbie “Rambug” is the burly but loveable owner of Rambug Pest Control. With the help of his eccentric team, which consists of actual family members and friends who have been around so long they feel like family, Robbie runs one of the most successful extermination businesses in New York City.  This offbeat, macho team rides around town in a truck with a giant cockroach mounted to the top and fearlessly battles everything from rats to roaches to bed bugs… to each other– Rambo style.

The Rambug Pest Control team is led by Robbie and supervised by his older brother Ralph.   They both ultimately answer to their traditional Italian mother Mimi. The general manager of the business is Big Rob, who struggles to juggle his work duties, his relationship with office manager Rose and being a father to an often impertinent Lil Rob, who also works at the company. Lil Rob’s best friend and wingman James and rat-trapper extraordinaire Steve round out the Rambug crew.