when it rains it pours...

the title of this entry is related to two things - first, that it would seem that I have started to update this more frequently (I think when I'm in the habit I do it more because I'm always thinking of things to post), and secondly it relates to the subject of this post which is Reality TV... more specifically British Reality TV.

Now, those of you who know me well are likely aware of the fact that on occassion I have taken interest in the reality tv phenomenon that has been sweeping across north america over the past few years... now for those of you who don't know me that well, you might not have realized that the previous statement was a bit sarcastic. In truth, reality tv shows in the likes of Survivor, Big Brother, The Amazing Race, and American Idol, are shows that I have enjoyed a little more than occasionally.

Well little did I know before I made my departure for England, that I was in fact travelling to the very birthplace of reality tv... and thus I have been exposed to the motherload. I'm slowly realizing that most TV that I watch in many ways was born in Britian (Most TLC shows are British knock offs - The What Not To Wear girls over here are far nastier than Stacey and Clinton could ever dream of being.... Most reality shows are British knock offs, and most of my favorite comedies, arrested development, for example reflect some of the comedies I've seen over here as well).

Something else that is interesting about British TV is that there are not nearly as many stations available than in North America, but that the main stations all have subsidiary stations whose programming reflects in some ways that of the main station. This will be explained later in relation to reality tv, but for now I'll use the example of a terribly trashy British soap called Hollyoaks. Everyday you can watch Hollyoaks on Channel 4... BUT immediately following that episode you can catch the next day's episode on E4, which is the second channel that is owned by the same company... the trick is you have to pay more to subscribe to the second channel... but if you do you can enjoy either the luxury of being be one day ahead in Hollyoaks, or being able to be efficient in your watching and watch one hour of the show two or three times a week, instead of watching one single half hour every day. Do you follow?

Ok, so that's the basic set up of the channels - basically what Im trying to get across is that many of the main stations have subsidiary stations which offer programs which complement the programming on the main channel immediately following specific programs.

Ok so back to the reality scene.

During my time here I've been exposed to a plethora of reality TV shows including the likes of Strictly Come Dancing (celebs and professional dancers team up and compete), The Match (celebrity football fans compete and train to play a footie match against a team of football legends), and the disturbingly popular Priest Idol where a priest (yes a priest!)has 12 months to increase turnout in his church. But what I never expected to come across is the discovery of what I have dubbed 'reality reality tv'... now read carefully, because its about to get scary.

'reality reality tv' refers to the shows which air on subsidiary channels that offer a 'more real' look into what goes on in your favorite reality tv show. For example The X-factor, a Pop Idol like show where individuals and bands from all age groups from 16-50 compete based on talent to see who truly has the X factor, offers a subsidiary show called The X-tra Factor, where 'behind the scenes' footage is shown to complement the show of performances you've just watched.

Wait it gets worse.

Are you a fan of the ever popular Trading Spouces on Fox? if you are then you can be sure to enjoy Wife Swap, which is the BRitish version - and after a good long hour of watching say, the career-driven-money-hungry-business-mom and the vegan-hippy-stay-at-home-mom switch places and respectively have neurotic breakdowns in their new homes, you can then watch the entire show AGAIN - except, in the next hour you will be watching the reactions of the families who were involved in the show as they were watching the show that you started watching just an hour earlier.

Yes, this is why I call it "reality reality tv". As if watching people's personal lives for one hour was not enough, you can indulge just a little more by watching them watch and react to their own personal lives for another hour.

Now now now... I dont want you to think that I've spent the better part of my time in Britain sitting on the sofa, eating jammy dodgers, sipping my tea, and watching TV because it just isn't so.

I'll admit that I have caught the occasional episode of X-factor and Strictly come dancing, but I have no yet reached the level of following a show week to week, nor have I ever indulged in any of these 'reality reality tv' shows further than the first five minutes. Anyway, I'm not posting this to put my television watching tastes on trial - I do enjoy a great number of more intellectually stimulating comedies, dramas, and *gasp* news shows from time to time as well.

What I would like to discuss are two specfic reality shows that are curiously British (i'm not aware of anything like them in Canada or the US) that I think might interest some of you.

First is a quirky little show called "Honey we're killing the kids" whereby a child health expert takes in a family, investigates their lifestyle, and makes some long term predictions about the health hazards they are exposing their kids to. The show paints a picture of what that's child's life might look like at the age of 40 - and when I say paint a picture I mean both figuratively AND literally... The show will give a description of where poor eating habits and anti-social behaviour might lead a person down the road, but they also produce a consistently hideous digital image of what little suzie and bobby might look down 40 years down the road when in addition to gaining weight and loosing their teeth, they have for some reason also developed bad fashion sense and mullet-ish haircuts. go figure...

anyway, this show basically confronts parents with the image of thier hideous kids at age 40 and their predicted life expectancy, then helps them revamp their lifestyle so that they can make their kids happier, healthier, live longer, and in some cases, look prettier.

as tasteless as it sounds, its actually a very interesting show because it makes you think about the lifestyle choices you are making. I may have told some of you about the episode where the daughter and son were consuming 68 and 72 teaspons of sugar a day respectively. I thought that was bad.... until last week, which featured a ten year old who was a regular smoker. No jokes.

The second show, which just aired yesterday and incidentally inspired this slightly longer than I expected rant, is called Space Cadets - and as mindless as it is, I believe it to be pure genius. Essentially they recruit a bunch of people who are both suggestible and impressionable through a number of physical and psychological tests and then tell them they are going to be the first televised British tourists into space. They then go through the process of flying them to russia, putting them through training, eliminating the weak participants, and then sending the 8 finalists into space for 5 days... the trick, however, is that they actually spend the entire process in a training camp in northern England... they never go into space at all - its just a big hoax full of Russian actors, and simulated space ships. Ha ha ha... oh dear, oh dear.

So that's just about all I've got to say about reality tv at this point. Just thought it would be a fun an interesting update away from details about work and visas and what not.

hope you enjoyed, comments welcome as always

- Chris