Gogglebox, Channel 10, 9pm Thursdays
ON one level, it might seem wrong to write a damning review on a show which you’ve watched for less than 10 minutes.
Yet for Gogglebox, I’m prepared to make an exception.
It’s a show about watching people watching television.
On the surface, you could be forgiven for thinking of the idea as facile, ridiculous, and plumbing the depths of an extremely shallow barrel of crap.
And you’d be precisely, indubitably, totally, completely right.
The mere fact that this was a smash hit in Britain should give you a clear enough idea of the low point we’re reaching for.
So the idea is that cameras sited alongside your television record your reactions to various shows – you being “ordinary“ people – read nobodies.
Remember George Orwell’s idea in 1984 that TV would one day watch you back? Well, that’s the point we’ve reached, and it’s a sure sign of the looming apocalypse.
Turn the TV off altogether, read a book, stick your face in an electric fan – all these options compare favourably to viewing Gogglebox.
In summary, it’s a show perfectly attuned to the deeply competitive 9pm Thursday night timeslot.
I must confess here that a friend was approached to put her family up for the show. Thank God she declined – they’d be better off in Guantanamo Bay – with more laughs, too.
It’s hard to pick a low point in such an unrelenting crapfest – and I did only watch 10 minutes – but I’d give an honourable mention to some deeply unenlightened political views on the faux prime ministerial leadership spill. We get the government we deserve – and these people vote.
I was there for less than 10 minutes, yet I could still feel myself getting dumber during even that short exposure. Gogglebox may or may not be cheap, but it is certainly nasty.
Proof positive that for Channel 10, the bankruptcy of their ideas exceeds even the paucity of their bank balance.
– Jason Beck
