Scandal tv – back with a venegeance Posted by jennie on Oct 18, 2010 in Culture
“Eight young people who had never met before spent the summer of their lives together in a beach house in Tylösand. We filmed everything. This is what happened. Sensitive viewers are hereby being warned.”
This is the intro and the plot for a new Swedish tv-show called “Kungarna av Tylösand” (The kings of Tylösand) and boy, the term scandal tv has never been more appropriate. One hour every Wednesday evening – anyone who fancies a bit of “real life” can tune in to Kanal 5 (one of the biggest commercial tv-channels) and join the never ending party of alcohol, sex, fights, vomiting, trash, more fights, more alcohol and a more sex. Nothing is being censored, nothing is left out. And I mean absolutely nothing. I thought I’d seen it all, but obviously not, and especially not after living in England, where you are only allowed to say the F-word after 9pm on tv and radio, let alone do it…
The rule model is the American MVT-show “Jersey Shore” and the the casting is similar. The odd one, the crazy one, the girl magnet, the slightly sane one… well, you get the picture. Put them all in a house, provide them with unlimited alcohol and put cameras everywhere and bam, a tv-show is made.
I honestly thought scandal tv had passed it best before date. We saw tonnes and tonnes of it in the early days of the 21st century and Sweden was one of the leading countries in creating new formats and programs. Baren (The bar) – where a group of people get together and run a bar together – is the most successful one ever – sold to hundreds of countries all over the world and it’s still running in many countries yet today. But as with anything you get too much of – the Swedes lost interest in scandal tv and even the big success Big Brother was cancelled back in 2006. Insead, we turned our tv focus to talent shows like “Idol”, “Dancing with the stars” and “Sweden’s got talent”.
Well, the scandal tv is back with a venegeance 2010. But the show is definitely not dividing the nation in two as it used to do, most Swedes seem to have better things to do on Wednesday nights and can agree on that it’s nothing but sad that a big production company are making money by providing young people with an endless supply of alcohol, parties, tattoos and lip injections (!!). But nevertheless, some of the guys and girls from the show are now running super big blogs, touring around the country and being paid to attend parties and are probably looked upon as kings and queens in thousands of young people’s eyes.
Have you seen anything similar? Perhaps even seen the show? Give me your take on scandal tv – has Sweden hit rock bottom or is there similar/worse things out there?
(Foto: Kanal5)
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Comments:
Efrutik:
Personally I have never even watch Jersey Shore and I live in U.S. I used to have older co-workers in the office I worked at who would talk about that show almost none stop. Sad. Indeed, TV today is pretty much “globally identical” with the flavor of a national twist. Yeah a show is pretty much from an American or British or Swedish origin but as long as it has that ‘nationalistic’ flavor to it it’s ok. Like the American Idol, the British Idol, the Dancing with the stars from x and y country. In any case, I definitely do not find enjoyment in shows of this nature so wouldn’t even bother finding out trash tv of that sort.
I have a question though. Is there a show like the “Housewife of D.C. or New York” in Sweden, or a similar show which is pseudo-realistic and exaggerates the life of the rich-ordinary folks ?
jennie:
Oh yes, there certainly is! It kicked off with one about Swedish housewives in Hollywood, which became huge! Now, there are atleast a couple, one is called “Skånefruar” and is exactly the same format, but based in the county Skåne and if I’m not completely wrong, there is one taking place in Stockholm as well. And of course, we get all the New Jersey wives, New York wives too…
Lizzy:
In Holland there’s the exact same thing going on: a reality show based on Jersey Shore. Four boys and four girls spend 3 summerweeks in a Dutch holiday resort on a Greek Island. But unlike Sweden, in Holland it’s an absolute hit. From the first episode on it attracted millions of viewers, which is quite unique.
I never watched any of the reality crap, even though Big Brother was a Dutch invention and a big hit for 3 seasons in Holland. But even I must admit that this is different. Maybe I have become obtuse, but it’s not even that shocking too. Hardly any one night stands, no fights, some sex (but definitely not every episode), and not even that much drunkenness. The kids are generally nice to each other, prepare surprises for each other and help out if needed.
The secret of this show seems to be that all 8 youngsters are from the same city; The Hague. They thus have the same accent, types of jokes, prejudices about other cities, etc. I think it gives a very characteristic feel and it intrigues watchers.
“Typical Dutch” things have been popular again on TV, in fashion, in food, magazines, etc. It seems as if people wish to go back in time and long for familiar, known and trusted elements in their daily lives. This show fits into that profile. There have been rumors about a winter edition in a ski resort with the same people.
If you want to watch it, the show is called: Oh Oh Cherso
Erik NorCal:
It is unfortunate that these shows are so popular. They tend to be all about sensational behavior and the people involved are seldom held accountable (if they were…no show?). Does the younger generation see this and think that this is acceptable behavior and begin modeling this behavior in their own lives. I went to college and served in the military were behavior like this was common but there were consequences for it.
Another concern I have is how people in other countries view theses shows as the way things really are within a given country, Jersey Shore/USA or in the case of Sweden, Kungarna av Tylösand. These shows tend to feed the belief that the stereotypes we all have knowledge of are really true.
At the end of the show you really haven’t learned anything at all about the people or the country they come from