BBC Entertainment’s Reality Show about HOME and WORK.
Cable as we call it in our city is the most important part of my existence. And so has been the cablewala ( the service provider). So recently my cablewala had a change of heart and he started relaying the feed of few channels which he for some reason had not done in the past (read PAY CHANNELS). One of such channel was BBC Entertainment.The first thing I noticed about the shows playing on BBC Entertainment was the impeccable Brit accent and at that very point a question came to my mind that if British had overstayed here would I too had spoke in the very same accent. But then there I saw an advert of BPO accent training institute in the Marathi newspaper and I had found the solution to my question.
Initially it took time for getting adjusted to watching an foreign GEC as until now my television diet was mostly of MTV, ZEE, STAR , Sony, STAR WORLD and few american series courtesy few generous souls and something that can’t be named. So with time I got the general idea of shows being shown and which shows I need to pick up for my diet. 3 shows made the cut out of which 2 are reality show and one is a chat show. The chat show is “The Graham Norton Show”, a regular chat show where celebs drop down to promote their new movie, show, tours etc, but the setting is casual, the talks are more humour based rather than PR based. All in all a breezy affair to watch at the end of the day.
The other two shows which really caught my attention were two reality shows. But this one are way different from what my idea of reality shows are, for me these kind of shows are nothing but projects with less investments and great returns, where talent is often sidelined or hyped out of proportion. But these two are way different from all others I have seen (in my opinion) as their main focus and content is built around HOME and WORK which are the things which runs any man’s life. As what we all need is a place which we can call our home and a workplace where we feel accepted.
First on the list is Extreme Makeover : Home Edition. I am not an engineering kind of guy who idea of entertainment is watching structure being built or destroyed. For me entertainment is all about emotions. And this is what the show concentrates on. The main concept of show is that in each episode a team of builders, Interior Designers, Carpenters, Interior Decorators with help of the local community helps a given family who is going through some ongoing hardship like illness or natural calamity which has taken toll on their house and made it somewhat impossible to live in it, but they still continue as thy have no other option. They send the family on an all paid vacation of one week and in this time the team completes the makeover of their home. But the show is not about how they build the house or give a makeover to it. Its about how these families have been going through the hardship together as a family and how this help will make them live a life they dreamt of in their time of misfortune. The show has made me cry EVERY SINGLE TIME and made me realised that how fortunate I am. The designers personally talk to each member of the family and try to understand them as a person, their intrest and aspirations and then they design the house as per their requirement. Towards the end when the families are shown the new place, the look on their face is truly priceless and shows us all how much our home mean to us.
Second on the list is Undercover Boss ( U.S.A. ). The show revolves around the boss at the top (C.E.O in most of the cases) going undercover in his own organisation at entry level to have a better understanding of the work and employees. While working as an Intern sometimes when the things were bit tough to handle I always wished that someday my senior official should come at my level and see how things are because sitting in a air conditioned office and giving instruction on phone is easy than being at an remote location under a tin roof and having a company of the only 2 humans in 10 km radius is tough. This show is where my prayers are being answered. The Top Boss is sent undercover with camera filming him while he is at work, employees are giving a false story to justify the presence of cameras around. He works on different work sites under different employees and it is where the show gets interesting. The undercover is someone who is use to certain facilities and has a notion about the work being done in his organisation but when he is at the very root of this place he truly understands how it actual works. Like in one episode the head of Business Development of Subway Restaurant had to work under an spunky 19 year old girl and as he confessed later on to her and camera that she was one of the boss who really scared him. This coming from a guy who has seen it all makes the show real. The boss also tries to understand the employees on personal level as in about their families, their daily struggle and what makes them work here and the motivation behind it. Eventually when the identity of Boss is revealed to employees they literately go into a moment of denial, eventually the undercover Boss speaks to each of the one under whom he worked in the duration of the show. He shares his experience and thoughts with them and gifts them mostly donation for helping them to live more independently.
This shows prove that reality show does not mean abusing, skin show, plotting, elimination, danger zone and judge’s opinions. For a change it also means affecting somebody’s life for BETTER.
(P.S. : It would be fun to have an season of UNDERCOVER BOSS in India. Endemol India hope you are listening.)
full2filmy 