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 loved airport. Would still watch that now. Although now the check in staff would be the villains with a measuring tape for the carry on.

She was a “nutritionist” whatever that means!

She pretended she was a doctor by saying she had a PHD from some bogus US “College of Nutrition” which has no accreditation and didn’t actually check the credentials of people applying. Ben Goldacre, who wrote “Bad Science” (fabulous book) managed to register his cat with the same qualifications.

Unsurprisingly, she went on to peddle covid and vaccine misinformation. She is a hideous woman!

They're much worse now.
Virgin Island, that swingers one too, awful.
I'd disown my daughter if she applied for a reality TV show.

Who didn’t love Jeremy!

Oh I had forgotten about our Queen Jane Boulton!

And Jane the check in supervisor. She would step in to sort people out

I think she's the woman (Nicky something) how does the make overs on This Morning now.

Whoever it is wants sacking from the few I've seen, taking poor women who have been battered by life (illness, caring responsibilities etc were the ones I'd seen) and taking them completely out of their comfort zones.

They dress them in horrendously bright coloured or heavily patterned dresses that swamped them and didn't suit them in the slightest but "were current fashion!" and make up and hair that someone who had no knowledge of self care and no products themselves could ever repeat.

They were completely inappropriate for every day life rather than more reasonable and attainable styles which would make the real difference for them going forward and let them continue what they had learnt.

I agree. She loved the kids - everything was about getting the parents to parent, be more involved and enjoy their time with their kids. It was about balancing time and fun with them but the kids also learning certain ways to interact in shops, at the table and with their siblings to make for a more harmonious life all round.

Yes Love Island is ridiculously fake! Everything is planned and manipulated by producers, they even do ‘re-takes’ of conversations. Most years a good chunk of the contestants have already met or know each other on the ‘outside’. I remember watching one series years ago and was shocked at the amount of photos on social media that showed islanders socialising in the same groups of people or with each other in real life. They make out that everyone is a stranger but the reality is they all move in the same ‘circles’.

What was the name of the British show where they persuaded a woman she could be a model? She converted her garden shed into a spa and bought a glamour photo shoot and a white Corsa. She was in her forties I think. I've been trying to remember the name of the series, it may have been a spin-off from Benefits Street.

He used to fondle their breasts on TV and then always put them in 50s dresses. Might have worked in London, but they couldn't walk around their small towns looking like that so I'm sure they went straight back to their old jeans.

There’s a couple of episodes of Would Like to Meet on YouTube, the presenters are incredibly cruel!

Another shocking one on YouTube from the Channel 4 series Man Hunters:

I agree!

There was the awful Changing Rooms in which arrogant and snooty 'experts' belittled and bullied people into creating the most revolting 'themed' rooms for their friends and neighbours. The results were unbelievably tacky and were done very grottily, more like am-dram sets than decor meant to last. The staple gun and glue played a big role. I remember one woman's treasured collection of teapots was topped and broken by one of the professional designers. In retrospect, I'm not entirely sure this was an accident because...

...some of the designers involved have since tried to distance themselves from the naff programme and admitted that a lot of the time they were taking the p*. Lawrence Llewelllyn Bowen admitted that if he took a dislike to the 'clients' he 'gave them the room they deserved', and not in a nice way. It was in that era when the public were constantly being bossed and bullied by 'experts' (see also Trinny and Suzannah in What Not to Wear. Ghastly, cringey stuff. Punters were seen as fair game for a general sneer-fest from their superiors.

Also there was a horrible programme where some smart-Alec, arrogant film-makers had asked people to let them into their homes to film their rooms while talking about their choices. Needless to say, there was a lot of the camera panning around very ordinary (not design-conscious, trendy or sophisticated) homes with snide comments and a general invitiation to viewers to sneer at these people. Horrible!

There are lots of things wrong with today's TV output but I think they've learned to hide the sneering a bit.

Entertainment.

Also, while neither person eat healthily, I think there was possibly a very slight educational benefit to be had from realising that one big meal won't kill you neither will a few tiny meals.

The difference between reality shows now and back then is that back then the sole purpose of them was for the audience to laugh at the contestants and feel good about how much better they are than them. Then people like Jade Goody started making a career out of being terrible people and things devolved to where a significant number of people see being on a reality show as a valid career choice.

I'm sure there are still some people who watch to mock and feel smug, but the calibre of viewer is probably closer to the calibre of contestant these days.

Yes - definitely.

Oh - one other thing. I don't often watch the house-hunting programmes but what I have noticed is that some telly person seems to be telling couples to hold hands all the bloody time as they parade round the viewings.

It really irritates me! I know I'm a miserable, joy-killing old bat, but it looks so naff, soppy and false. I bet it's reality TV manipulation most of the time.

this.

@DotjonesI disagree that Jade made a career out of being a terrible person. She was a very young, traumatised woman who did not get an education. People were drawn to her not only because she was so naive and a bit thick, but because behind that was a vulnerability. The nation was invested in this rags to riches story, but also enjoyed her downfall as it was felt to be fitting as she had risen above her station. The fight with Shilpa was as much about class as it was about race.

One other observation and then I'll get my coat...

I've met a few TV people in my career and I'm sorry to say that they've invariably been smug and superior with a very patronising opinion of the viewers and public in general. Very depressing, and it explains a lot.

I know that's an unfair generalisation but when you consider some of the programmes being discussed here, it's not a surprise.

One thing I always noticed on Clean house, dirty house or whatever it was called was the dirty house owners were usually university professors or the like, whilst the clean house people were…not. There’s a definite link with intelligence, being bookish and not ‘seeing’ mess, and that link could be neurodivergence.

Was that the Asian kid who went onto be a maths teacher? If so he’s a gem.

I didn’t even watch the original but I’ve seen clips and used to follow him on his social media accounts (when he was an adult)

There's also how you get status. A uni professor already has it through their job and won't worry so much about what people think of the state of the house.

I didn't get the impression it was always academic types though.

The thing is, the people with the most dirty homes would never let the TV in to see it!

@CoffeeCantatawell I would also say that the TV producers have no duty of care to their contestants. I work in MH. There’s so many unwell people on reality tv. The last thing they need is to be opened up to public ridicule.

Children cannot consent to having their intimate moments of emotion recorded and replayed for the entertainment of strangers, forever.

It’s child exploitation.

One 2000s show I genuinely miss is Holiday Showdown. I think about it often!