To think reality shows of the early 2000s have not aged well! Doing a rewatch

[Imcomingovertoyourplace]

So far I’ve watched
Playing it Straight (the homophobia is rife!)
Fat Families (just horrific, ‘lard busting’ and shaming overweight kids)
Big Fat Gypsy Weddings (did the producers never want to intervene with what is essentially child abuse?)

I’ve got no recollection at all of the first 2

My big fat gypsy wedding was very conterversial at the time. Was benifits street out at the same time?

Reality shows from 2025 are pretty shocking. The genre is basically a modern form of a voyeuristic freak show. Never a comfortable watch.

They were bad trash tv then and still are now. Tbh all reality tv is shit and none of it ages well and the crap on our screens now will have someone making the same comments about it in 25 years that you are now about the crap from 25 years ago

I remember fat families one of the families had a bit of "fame" for a while,
I follow an American comedian and he re watches some of the old MTV reality programmes they were wild!

I don't think they were any better or worse than today's reality nonsense I mean there was 1 recently called virgin island !

I don't think they're much better now, they just use different terminology.

@Cordroyyou should find them on YouTube if you have the inclination. The first show has the premise of a single girl in a ranch in Mexico has to choose a potential partner, but half the men are straight and half are gay.
Cue lots of comments from the men such as ‘he wore a pink shirt’ ‘he had a big tub of Vaseline in his soap bag’ etc

They were all programmes/series of their time. Same as anything, we can’t judge the past with the values of today. Context is everything.

The passage of time can be distorting. I still love watching old shows. I was watching ‘Secret Eaters’ yesterday. Would never be made now but it’s bloody brilliant.

And don't get me started on the love island/towie/chelsea reality stars !

Oh god yes! Supersized vs superskinny!

The Swan!?

Ridiculous

There was a ch4 programme, that measured the food in perspex tubes was that secret eaters Or was that something else?

I’m not saying that things are better now but it doesn’t feel that long ago and yet attitudes to a 15 year old marrying (would it be filmed now?) or mainstream TV hosts laughing about ‘don’t drop the soap’ just seem wild to think about now.

Ah thanks OP - might check them out

@Coffeeishotoh my god I remember that!

That was ‘Supersize v Superskinny’.

Oh yes they swapped diets didn't they then cried about it 😂

Gillian Mckay and her poo examinations on tv 🤢🤮. Plus the channel 5 seres on all the medical "freeks" (freaks was in the title)

There are old episodes of Wife Swap online. One of them was so unbelievably racist. Would never air in this day and age.

Benefits Street, yes I remember. I think there was a sort of working class obsession at that time, alongside Educating Yorkshire/ East End.

I really loathe Rich House, Poor House. Now I see they’ve started Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday. It’s all just so condescending to the poor people and that doesn’t appeal to me. I watched about two episodes and that was it for me.

@GroovyChick87was that the US one or UK? I loved holiday swap too

Aww I liked the educating programmes the Yorkshire one especially,

Virgin Island 🤮
Just imagining the grubby minded production team rubbing their grubby hands at the thought of the “virgins” especially attractive young women discussing sex on screen 🤮🤮🤮

Yeah the Rich/poor programmes I won't watch I have seen clips but it's crass isn't it?

I always wondered why there was never an Educating Surrey or Educating Oxfordshire….hmmm can’t possibly think why…