You’ve seen one episode, you’ve seen them all?

[WomanStanleyWoman]

Inspired by the ‘Vera’ thread - what are the shows you can see once, then theoretically never see again without missing anything?

My vote goes to Location Location Location. As much as I love it, the formula is eternally predictable:

‘Steve and Samantha Deluded-Twats are looking for a spacious two-bedroom apartment in west London. They love pricey Chiswick, but only have £300k to spend. They’re hoping that, with our help, they can find an area nearby with an attractive high street with a villagey feel and lots of independent shops and cafés, even though they buy everything off Amazon and get their lunch from Tesco Express like the rest of us. Today, I’ll be showing them a one-bed in need of work opposite a condemned council estate now being used as an unofficial skate park and drug den. I REALLY hope they can see the potential’.

Share your nominations…

The X Files, have been rewatching recently.

Mulder and Scully stumble upon supernatural thing. Mulder knows what it is straight away. Scully doesn’t believe him.

Mulder gets into precarious situation and Scully arrives to save the day at the last second, or vice versa. Always one or the other.

Mulder broods. Scully does science.

Mulder’s supernatural theory is proved correct at the end, Scully pretends not to notice.

The hunted programme ... they contact their family, every fucking time meaning the hunters get a lead and race off to catch them.

To be fair, I think it's in the rules that they have to make contact with a family member; the same as it's in the rules that they cannot stop in any one location for more than 48 hours, and they have to use a cashpoint at some time [or used to]. Otherwise those being hunted could prepare a friend's cellar ahead of the show and just hole up there for the entire 28 days.

But I'd agree that every series is the same. You get two friends, who inevitably fall out and go separate ways. You get a father and child trying to bond. You get a macho man who thinks they can outwit everyone.

The Christmas hallmark films are utterly ridiculous ( I'm sure channel five will be starting to put them on soon now it's autumn)
The lead actress is always beautiful and clever with nice clothes and the kids are theatre school urchins who are wise beyond their years and make sure their widowed dad marries the smart lady who gives up her glittering New York lifestyle to live with them in rural harmony in the sticks forever more and be a ' mom ' to them and the cute farm animals and non cold looking snow ( from a hired snow machine )
Christmas was never like this when I was growing up : a festive tin of quality street was seen as high end living.

@MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously

Any channel 5/Hallmark channel Christmas film. Busy career woman is shown the error of her ways by hitting her head on a snow globe or something and experiencing life in a parallel existence, where she put love before career! When she gets back to reality, she gives up her city life to open a cafe/book/gift shop and marry a hunky local fireman. They might mix it up a bit with hunk having a cute child that Hermione bonds with and becomes the perfect mother to!

My DC and I play bingo when we watch these films ..

Woman with immaculate long curly hair
Hunky man in knitwear with dead wife and cute kid
Perfectly decorated house
Old man dressed up as Santa
Hot chocolate drinking in the snow

@BoredZelda

American Chopper.

Someone asks for a custom bike. Paul Senior takes the job and agrees to do it in two days, despite it being two weeks worth of work. Paulie Junior, does the design, sources all the stuff, gets the team together, gets them working.

The new guy fucks something up, Paulie fixes it. Something breaks, Paulie fixes it. Something isn’t available, Paulie finds it in New Mexico and gets it shipped in twenty minutes. There’s half a day to go and Senior gets off his arse from his office to come an have a look, shouts and swears at Paulie Junior for being a waste of fucking space. With ten minutes to go, Senior comes in and fits the back wheel and everyone congratulates him for doing a brilliant job, the bike couldn’t be done without him. Paulie is given no credit whatsoever. Mikey fucks about on the internet and Senior crowns him as the golden boy.

No wonder Junior fucked off to start his own company!

I’ve never seen this but I want to now 😂 poor Paulie junior.

House Hunters International.

The locations are more varied than place in the Sun but it is very formulaic.

Young American couple relocating somewhere abroad for one of them’s job. Budget is tight due to one not having a job.

They want European/English/Mexican\Australian/vietnamese/wherever charm, but big American kitchen, washer/drier, enormous fridge, gas oven, wooden floors, outside space, near bars, with parking and easy commute.

They get shown three rental properties, none of which actually fit the bill. Two are over budget but the only cheap one is hopeless.

They agonise over their choice, and eventually non working partner gets their choice of location because they agreed to move for their DP’s job.

A few months later they are blissfully happy, both have jobs, and they have new friends round for dinner.

I don’t think it’s on anymore, but Selling Houses With Amanda Lamb always made me laugh. It was meant to be the antithesis of all those ‘clear everything away and paint it beige’ programmes: she’d encourage them to have a huge feature wall or brightly coloured kitchen units, or to put huge sculptures in the garden. There were three couples each week, then someone looking for a house in the area would look at all three and tell Amanda which they liked best. They would almost always say ‘Well, out of the three I liked house X best, but no, I don’t think I’ll be putting in an offer at this stage’. I only remember someone offering on one of the houses once - and even then the vendors pulled out

The Barefoot Contessa on food network.

@Piglet89

We are convinced Contessa is just slowly marinading Geoffrey and her last show will feature him on a spit, slowly roasting over the barbecue with the required 8 tons of salt.

Should also add Pioneer Woman on Food network. With her kids who are all apparently ridiculously healthy despite every meal including copious amounts of fried food and a sugar laden “treat”. Kids are helping out on the ranch, let’s bring them lunch and have dinner ready for them coming home. It must include something Ladd say he doesn’t like but miraculously loves when she cooks it. Kids are apparently homeschooled, but it is unclear who by as she is chained to that kitchen and Ladd is so busy on his ranch he can’t even make his own bloody lunch.

Generally any murder show, midsomer, Lewis, Vera, morse. The only thing that changes is the victim and who dunnit! Having said that I love all the shows I've mentioned and will watch them over and over again!

Amanda lamb always ended her programme sat on a horse !
She did have a once famous footballer and girlfriend looking at places once , but they both split up and the girlfriend had to sell the designer handbag and bling whilst he went off with someone else. ( she was often on the Wright stuff with her stories)

@Kanaloa

My husband watched it every bloody night. Paulie was the whipping boy, made for some explosive TV!

Not read all of the thread so apologies if I’m repeating what someone else has already said!

Four in a Bed!

I do quite like it but, it’s flawed isn’t it! The first hosts are at an advantage due to being able to guess who scored them badly, therefore most visit the other three with a chip on their shoulder and an ace to grind, scoring low points by finding an eyelash hidden amongst the carpet pile!

Axe NOT ace!

But aces score high

And another!

Escape to the country where you never get to know the fucking outcome!

You’ve missed the point of Columbo; you know who’s done it from the start. Watching Columbo find the proof in his quirky fabulous way is what it’s about!

Celeb Masterchef, I can tell straight away who the producers have down as their winner.

I see it has been said already but definitely Friends. I can't bear it.

Casualty definitely, oh look random man up completely unsafe high ladder (he’s gonna get it) family driving fast in car kids arguing in back (they’re gonna get it) Kids ball stick in tree over an electrical point (he’s gonna get it)

Escape to the country - a wealthy couple in their 60s or 70s looking to move from a city or town where they have friends and family to a rural area where they know no one. Yet they are convinced they need loads of space for ‘entertaining’ twenty people.

Also no one mentions that in 10 years time the same couple would be much better off living in a ground floor flat in a town, with good bus routes to the local hospital. Rather than a barn conversion in the middle of nowhere. (Or maybe I’m just too pessimistic.)

Deadliest Catch

Will the catch crabs, will they not catch crabs…..

Salvage hunters, antiques road trip, homes under the hammer. Most daytime tv I guess

I agree with Escape to the Country. Always a posh mega rich couple moving to the back of beyond where they know no one. Don't they realise they will only have each other for company for the majority of the rest of their lives. It would drive me mad.

@BoredZelda

The Barefoot Contessa on food network.

@Piglet89

We are convinced Contessa is just slowly marinading Geoffrey and her last show will feature him on a spit, slowly roasting over the barbecue with the required 8 tons of salt.

Should also add Pioneer Woman on Food network. With her kids who are all apparently ridiculously healthy despite every meal including copious amounts of fried food and a sugar laden “treat”. Kids are helping out on the ranch, let’s bring them lunch and have dinner ready for them coming home. It must include something Ladd say he doesn’t like but miraculously loves when she cooks it. Kids are apparently homeschooled, but it is unclear who by as she is chained to that kitchen and Ladd is so busy on his ranch he can’t even make his own bloody lunch.

I watch the Barefoot Contessa with my Dad and it makes us laugh about how much she goes on and on about her husband.

So, I'm going to share your post with him, cos i know how much it will make him laugh. 👍

@FuckingFabulous

Every single weight loss type programme. The rotund person is vehemently in denial, the doctor/nutritionist wheels out their monthly food in a wheelbarrow or on a sack truck, they sob, the professional gives them a diet. They cheat on the diet. There is intense music as a the professional catches them with a Mars bar on it's way down their gullet. They have a bit of a row. Rotund person stomps off, cries, plinky plunky sad music as the professional comes over and the sob story is revealed. Usually something unrelated like "when I was a child, I was caught on a dinghy at sea for three hours and that's why I can't give up my eighteen takeaways a week"

I can't stop laughing that is hilarious!! You said it so perfectly 🤣🤣👏🏻