Once upon a time, single mothers rarely talked about their situations. Obviously, that's changed, if the TBS special "Unmei no Konkatsu Tabi" ("The Journey to a Fateful Union"; Mon., 7 p.m.) is any indication.
A "documentary-variety" show, "Unmei" presents two single mothers trying to find marriage partners. Each is paired with two different "candidates" with whom they "simulate" a life together.
One woman is a 31-year-old "beauty designer" with a 4-year-old daughter. She's matched with one man who runs a famous family-owned confectionery in Kawagoe, and another who is the vice president of a large hotel in the mountains of Nagano. The second single mother is a 29-year-old nurse with a 3-year-old son. Her potential mates are a single father who is currently working on the disaster cleanup in the Tohoku region, and a fisherman from Fukuoka.