Idea for new parenting advice TV show based on Mumsnet Talk - your thoughts/input needed

[JustineMumsnet]

You may have clocked a wee announcement last week that Channel 4 are interested in making a TV show featuring real mums sharing their best support and advice to others in need of it, a sort of TV version of Mumsnet Talk. We have been approached by the production company - Studio Lambert - to work together to come up with a pilot for the show.

If it's commissioned it's likely to be 6-8 programmes of 1 hour length (48 mins without the ads). The (very rough) idea is to have 4 or so featured families per show, each with a specific parenting problem and a range of mums who've been there and done that or just have some insight, giving their help, support and advice in an attempt to help them through the problem, a la Mumsnet.

We're at a very early stage but we wanted to ask for any thoughts about format, participation, whether/how you'd like to be approached - a panel, a sticky thread? - what you think the pitfalls are, what the opportunities are, what subject matter you'd like to see covered and indeed anything else that springs to mind on the subject.

Many thanks in advance for your input.

"Courted and feared alike by politicians, lest they offend its 600,000 members, Mumsnet has become a valuable brand. It is now working with Channel 4 on a show....

Channel 4 said the series would tap into Mumsnet's network of members....

Justine Roberts, Mumsnet co-founder, said: "We are excited to be working with (producers) Studio Lambert on the series...."

Of course, there is a programme to be made here. One that exploits the 'brand' of Mumsnet. One that Justine can be excited about. One that doesn't assume that everyone (i.e us) wants to be 'on't telly'.

Studio Lambert are just looking the wrong way.

Len- was a fly on the wall thing. They all looked like idiots

might i add that i LOVED it. ahahahahaha

Oh yes that is a brilliant idea! Can you imagine seeing Justine et al bitching and sulking at each other in the office? Hilarious!

And instead of 'Indiaaa. It's all going tits up with Indiaaa" It'd be like 'oh god, AIBU. It's all kicking off in AIBU..." And then actually you could have the talking heads thing, a la Model Agency and Justine and co could dispense our hilarious advice/comments to camera.

And they might even have the 'cull' section where they go through the under performing models MNers and Get Rid.

Format cracked. Excellent work there.

This is hopefully going to be different because each programme will deal with parenting issues for children of all ages, and for each one there will be a wide range of advice from lots of different parents - some of which will work and some won't. If we get the tone right it should feel different from anything you've seen before.

I'm sure there's room in tellyland for both of you specialmagiclady... As you probably already know, the hours are so long and unsociable you'll never have enough time together to drive each other insane!

Yeah, Ros, that's the thing. I'm married to the guy, I'd like to see him ever. At the moment we've done 3 years living in separate cities Monday to Friday - that's 75% of my DS2's life. Put both of us in edit til stupid o'clock/on a shoot in another country and there's nobody to look after the kids.

The stats are horrible re parents in telly, but even worse for mothers. It's the inability to plan that takes us out of the business. What are you doing next year? Do you know? No, we don't either. What time are you finishing work tomorrow? Ok - how about June 15th? I don't really want to raise kids in an environment where neither of us knows where we'll be working at the end of the next contract or when we're coming home at the end of a day. It was my decision to drop my career down a few notches so that there would be someone who was stable for the kids. Doesn't mean I don't miss it sometimes though!

Anyway, that's a whole nother thread.... And yes, I do feel better now. Thanks for listening!

making an MN show is a potentially disastrous move for SL anyway... can you imagine, every single thing they did being reported on here in real time by the MNers involved? every little filming shortcut or squeaky half-truth uncovered? i can't see many of my producer pals putting themselves up for that, tbh, it's potentially ruinous.
and as for the day the show would go out? lol, can you imagine? remember all the people who have come on here and other sites after appearing in shows, trying desperately to 'clear their name'?
there isn't a legal document in the world that can silence an MNer with her tail up.

This programme sounds a bit like some of the early ideas on this thread. An animated documentary taking the viewer inside the counselling rooms at Relate.
Certainly sounds like one way of getting the balance between frankness, anonymity and watchable TV.

It really isn't our intention to make anyone on here look bad - as aitchtwooh rightly points out, we'd be committing career suicide if we did! We genuinely want to make a series that celebrates parenting - to ditch the tv experts and instead make a show where parents offer each other support and advice, tell it like it is, and hopefully have a laugh together too.

We'd also like it to be so good that we keep getting asked to make more - which isn't going to be possible if we've pissed off the people we're filming with!!

As Freya has already said, we really aren't asking anyone to do our jobs for us. We just felt it would be wrong to start developing a format inspired by MN without keeping everyone informed and making sure we have taken on board everyone's thoughts, concerns and suggestions.

Thanks so much for the link piprabbit. It looks really interesting - I'm definitely going to watch it.

Good for you for making that choice, specialmagiclady. I can't imagine it was easy but, for what it's worth, I admire your decision. I've come across a lot of mums who say they wish they'd spent more time with their kids, but I have yet to find any who say they wish they'd spent more time at work!

i suppose the thing is, ros, that we feel we are among friends here, rightly or wrongly. that's why we support each other, have a laugh, muck about etc.

i've been five years or more on here, i've discussed most things (not so much on parenting, i concede, i find that all a bit tedious), so posters can take a looooong view on my advice, my motivation, my character etc, and decide for themselves whether i am worth listening to or not. you can't do that in 48 mins on Channel 4, you can only provide a cartoon sketch of our personalities, with the onus on you being to entertain the audience as well as try to stay true to the subject material. (but we know what will be let slide if push comes to shove).

Can you explain a bit more about the working title, please? Just the thought of you guys being under the impression that The Bad Mothers Club is a good title is worrying in the extreme, tbh. It's 2011, women shouldn't be subject to that kind of guff any more.

excellent post, saf.

Absolutely agree about the working title. Sorry, but I think it's dreadful, and hardly supportive or representative of female solidarity.

Can't remember if you've been asked this/you have answered this, but do you, Ros and/or Freya have children yourself?