Soupergirl Sara Polon and mom Marilyn hope to be the next hit reality TV show

There are no hell-raising friends going squirrel-hunting in Sissonville, W.Va., no three-way hookups in hot tubs on the Jersey shore. And no one named Honey Boo Boo.

There are, however, exploding chickpeas.

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The mother-daughter team behind the Soupergirl cafe in Northwest Washington may soon find a place in the reality TV pantheon.

Welcome to what may well be the D.C. setting for the next hit reality TV show: Soupergirl.

It’s an unlikely one: a bright Takoma cafe that serves health-conscious kosher and vegan soups. The concoctions have complex flavors and quirky names such as Jamaican Me Crazy Sweet Potato Soup, whose ingredient list includes orange and lime juice, coconut milk, curry and dark rum.

The would-be stars of this not-yet show are Soupergirl, a.k.a. Sara Polon, and her mom, Marilyn Polon. On a recent weekday afternoon the pair were circulating through the restaurant filling crouton bowls, taking orders and reminiscing about the previous day’s “chickpea catastrophe” and the smell it left behind.

“There’s always some drama going on,” says Soupergirl, rolling her eyes. Sara Polon is also a stand-up comedian: She has bright hazel eyes, straight brown hair and pureed sweet potato on her jeans. She almost always smells like onions.

“I personally don’t like reality shows,” says Marilyn Polon, who has a booming laugh that belies the nickname — “CAO” or “Chief Anxiety Officer” — bestowed by her daughter.

“Well, I don’t even own a TV,” Soupergirl, 35, chuckles.

The idea for a reality show was born when Michelle May, founder and owner of Womin Media, a McLean-based company that markets “women-centric” content for TV and new media, heard from a mutual friend that there was a place in Northwest Washington that served “insanely healthy soup made by a comedian who calls herself ‘Soupergirl’ and has a Jewish mother!”

If that’s not a made-for-TV premise, what is?

The potential for reality-TV-style tawdriness in a show about a mother-daughter soupmaking team may seem limited — and that’s May’s point. “We wanted to make a positive reality show about women,” she says. “Maybe our society is craving something that’s not catty or mean-spirited. I hope it helps spur the conversation about the direction of reality shows right now.”

This winter, May filmed Sara Polon in the restaurant’s Takoma kitchen amid 40-gallon steam kettles filled with squash and 50-pound bags of red lentils. May followed her as she sold her soups at the Dupont farmers market and as she did her stand-up comedy act at the Pinch club in Northwest Washington.

May used the footage to produce teasers and promotional videos that she’s marketing to networks such as Lifetime, TLC, the Hallmark Channel and the Food Network. She’s also exploring turning “Soupergirl” the show into a series of “Web snacks,” or short Internet episodes.

The Polons hope to get a boost along the lines of the success of TLC’s “DC Cupcake.” That show, which follows sisters Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis as they run Georgetown Cupcake, contributed to the country’s cupcake craze, and its first-season finale racked up 1.5 million viewers.

May’s hope is that the “Soupergirl” show, when and if it happens, will be more comedic — sort of like “Seinfeld” meets soup. May says the format was inspired by the banter of George Burns and Gracie Allen.