I hate reality TV. Full Stop. Until a last week when I watched ‘The Family’ on Channel Four, but it’s okay because Channel 4 are calling it a documentary, which in a way I suppose it is.
So, the basics. The show is about the Hughes family, who live in Upper Harbledown according to my sources. There’s a mother (Jane), and a father (Simon) who have four children; Jessica (who is married and has a baby), Emily (Who causes most of the arguments), Charlotte (The middle child) and Tom (The baby of the lot).
My first impressions of it was that it was awful and ‘crap’ like all reality TV shows in my opinion (although the ratings for the shows prove otherwise) but I was wrong, once I got into it I started to really enjoy it.
So, I am enjoying it now, but there is so much that is wrong with it. For a start, it all seems a little bit scripted. It may just be the way they’ve edited it, but each episode has a problem, which is solved by the end. They’ve not even gone to any effort to hide the cameras, and the children have obviously been told not to mention their schools name. Whenever they go to mention it, they go – ‘The school I go to’.
Real life is hilarious when it’s done properly, like ‘The Family’ and you actually have sympathy for the characters when they have arguments or something just goes wrong. And also, every time I hear ‘Canterbury’ mentioned or a place in or around Canterbury I do feel a sense of pride, which really, is quite sad.
It is not fake reality like ‘Big Brother’ or ‘I’m A Celebrity…’ where they clearly choose the contestants very carefully. They put in people which are all opposites and have nothing in common (apart from the need to be famous) so the likely hood is that they’re going to clash and make ‘brilliant’ telly. The more controversy created in the show, the more media attention they’ll get, which will mean higher ratings for them.
So, the basics. The show is about the Hughes family, who live in Upper Harbledown according to my sources. There’s a mother (Jane), and a father (Simon) who have four children; Jessica (who is married and has a baby), Emily (Who causes most of the arguments), Charlotte (The middle child) and Tom (The baby of the lot).
My first impressions of it was that it was awful and ‘crap’ like all reality TV shows in my opinion (although the ratings for the shows prove otherwise) but I was wrong, once I got into it I started to really enjoy it.
So, I am enjoying it now, but there is so much that is wrong with it. For a start, it all seems a little bit scripted. It may just be the way they’ve edited it, but each episode has a problem, which is solved by the end. They’ve not even gone to any effort to hide the cameras, and the children have obviously been told not to mention their schools name. Whenever they go to mention it, they go – ‘The school I go to’.
Real life is hilarious when it’s done properly, like ‘The Family’ and you actually have sympathy for the characters when they have arguments or something just goes wrong. And also, every time I hear ‘Canterbury’ mentioned or a place in or around Canterbury I do feel a sense of pride, which really, is quite sad.
It is not fake reality like ‘Big Brother’ or ‘I’m A Celebrity…’ where they clearly choose the contestants very carefully. They put in people which are all opposites and have nothing in common (apart from the need to be famous) so the likely hood is that they’re going to clash and make ‘brilliant’ telly. The more controversy created in the show, the more media attention they’ll get, which will mean higher ratings for them.
And shows like ‘X-Factor’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ are just plainly awful (apart from the auditions, which I do enjoy’ where essentially it’s just a horrible bloke, a nicer yet more unsightly bloke, which are both separated by a pretty women (or two) who is nice to everyone and stops the two blokes from constant bickering. I mean, as soon as a sob story comes on you know that person will get through to the next round. That’s because it’s not as funny when Simon Cowell says “I hate you” to someone you know has been suffering from cancer for 2 years and who sung that song for her dead mother. There’s just so much fakery on telly these days.
At least ‘The Family’ seems slightly real.
Well that was Week One’s rant, come back sometime next week for another Stuart rant.
At least ‘The Family’ seems slightly real.
Well that was Week One’s rant, come back sometime next week for another Stuart rant.
1 comment:
HeHe Stuy
I didnt watch the family but my mum and dad didnt really like it.
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