I was invited (well, not personally, but still) to Fandango’s Friday Flashback!

Fandango scrolls back, every Friday, and gives a second chance to a post he had published on the same date, years before. I thought it was a great way to remember some of the stuff I did a while back, and I decided to participate…

So here it is!

Written on June 23rd of 2019, here is a little rant about weird and disturbing reality shows. Re-reading it, I thought ”OMG, I SO could write a part 2 to this!” Because home entertainment hasn’t gone any wiser the past 4 years. Humans sure seem to be easy to entertain, and I kind of feel bad for all the times I made fun of Freja for chasing a shadow or a stupid lazer beam.

I hope you’ll enjoy it (again), and I wish you’re safe and well, wherever you are…

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If you have cable tv, you know that pretty much any subject, project or hobby you could think of has been put in a tv show, somewhere on the planet.

Sometimes it amazes me that a producer said ”Yes! Hell yes!! We have something good here!” after being presented some of these ideas. I mean, how easy is it to entertain a human being? It seems like we are willing to watch pretty much anything at all. Sometimes, I even suspect that tv channels are just challenging our intelligence.

Here are five concepts I just don’t get. I don’t judge people who watch these shows, I am as guilty as any of you. I can talk about them for the simple reason that I watched at least an episode of each (except The Swan… I always refused to watch that one).

It would be easy to make the list longer, but let’s start with five.

Naked and afraid

People love a good challenge, and I believe it is good to challenge yourself. Survival shows have been very popular over the years, and I can see the interest. But in ”Naked and Afraid” (for those of you who have never seen it before), two strangers are thrown naked and almost tool-less in the most inhospitable environments for three weeks. Why naked? Aside from complaints about getting bitten by exotic bugs on the butt, I don’t see how giving the contestants a pair of shorts and a t-shirt would take anything out of the challenge. Or do they do this because it is supposed to be entertaining to see people naked? It’s 2019! We can see naked people anytime we want on the internet… I don’t get it. I just don’t.

The Bachelor(ette)

There are soooo many ”dating” shows I could have put here. I don’t see why people are willing to go on tv to find a mate. (yeah, I know… $$$$) I mean, getting into a relationship, especially if it ends up with two people falling in love is such an intimate thing… Anyway! In the Bachelor(ette), a single, healthy and desperate for love individual is matched with some thirty gorgeous pretendents, fighting to end up marrying him(her). On either side, I don’t see how these people can be comfortable with this concept. I could ramble for a long time about it, but let’s just take the last episode… After endless dating left and right, and eliminations the Bachelor is left with his two best picks among the original thirty, and has to choose a wife. Of course, things get over emotional, and there’s much crying and ”Who am I going to choose” going on. I sure wouldn’t like to see my soon-to-be husband cry his eyes out, having to eliminate the runner up! And if I was the Bachelorette, and I was in fact pretty much in love with two gorgeous men, I’d hate to have to choose right here and now, because, you know… The sun is setting, the Champagne bottle is ready, so 3, 2, 1, Action!

Adam looking for Eve

Oh! This one was a real treat for me… You might never have seen it, as the original show is actually Dutch, but who knows? There might be a North American version I haven’t had the pleasure to watch! In this show, genius producers have put ”dating” and ”naked” together! Their official excuse is to take physical attraction out of the dating equation since the men and women can see it all, right away. What??? Tell me I am not the only one shallow enough to think that I wouldn’t have the most intellectual conversations ever, if you put me on an paradise island with a handsome stud wearing nothing but a smile?? Come on!! This is insulting. And IF that’s the real goal of the show, what’s the point of having all these naked people go do things that always involve jumping up and down, and running around? *Sigh* What’s next? Guys trying to find the love of their life, naked, while fighting annacondas with bare hands in the jungle? (I’m afraid I might give people some ideas here… Thank God, The Cove is not that popular!)

Man vs Food

No naked people here. And no dating. Disappointed? I understand… But fear not, there are other absurdities we humans can do. You are probably aware of all the countries where people are starving, as we speak? Well, I hope this show will never make it there, because we might aswell send them a video just telling them ”You know what? We don’t give a damn!!” I don’t mind foodie shows in general. Wether they are about fancy food I’ll never be able to afford, weird food or cooking. But contests where people challenge themselves to overeat? Again… Why?? What pride is there, in being able to stuff your stomach with ten pounds of steak and a bucket of fries you could sit in? That’s not a talent… Or is it?

The Swan

As I mentionned above, I never watched The Swan. So I can’t say much about it… But the concept itself just made me sick. Taking women considered ugly (OMG!! I mean… OMG!!) and making them go through an intense series of hard training, reconstructive dentistry and extensive plastic surgeries to turn them into Barbie dolls… Is there anything NOT WRONG about this show? Oh, excuse me, yes, there is an upside; it only aired in 2004! Aside from that, it is just an ode to artificial beauty, and a slap in the face of most women on the planet, if you ask me. Terrible.

Feel free to share your best picks of absurd or disturbing tv show concepts… I only watch so much television, and I haven’t seen it all, obviously. I am sure there are many more that maybe even top the five ones above!

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