Gogglebox

Another Breaking Bad day for Mark, Jamie and myself. We loaded ourselves up with all the various snacky bits from One Stop and binged on junk food and Netflix. No regrets. Mark has just entered season 5 and things are once again heating up, I'm pretty sure he'll make these viewing sessions quite regular now that I'm back in town for a bit.

My parents also persuaded me to watch a little bit of the newest TV sensation Gogglebox which I have very mixed feelings about. Intrinsically, it is the same kind of entertainment as watching a Youtube 'Let's Play' video as they line up several personalities and make them watch some recent telly, we see their responses to what they watch. Commercially, the show has hit a  home run, as have internet 'Let's Play' videos so someone at Channel 4 really understand that niche very well. I however, typically abstain from watching those kind of shows, even online ones (unless there is some genuinely interesting personalities behind it). The charm of Gogglebox is totally reliant on it's on-screen personalities which are all everyday brits; this is also where the show fails to capture my interest. I only care about other peoples opinions about topics if I am responsive to their authority on what they are discussing.

Simply put, I don't actually care, or find it interesting to watch two hairdressers discuss the X-Factor voting decisions. Especially if their personalities and actions come across as forced due to the presence of the camera (again, I think this is something the producers cottoned onto very early and is why a lot of people like watching it). But with me, spotting a contrived moment on the show just shattered my immersion further and reminded me of exactly what I was watching, which lead to me questioning my decision to watch the show in the first place.