Iacgmouh - Richard Madeley

[andy-hughes]

I see Richard Madely has been taken to hospital 'as a precaution' after falling ill on the show.

I remember forty years ago when we as a nation watched aghast as Clive James showed clips of Endurance', a Japanese game show where contestants were tortured for the entertainment of the viewing masses, and he quite rightly pointed out that this was a hugely horrible way to offer something disguised as amusement for anyone who was disturtbed enough to find entertainment in it. We all put it down to a fundamental cruelty in the Japanese psyche, and nodded that we are very very different in the West.

Now, we have exactly the same thing, except without even the poor excuse of offering money prizes to unknowns - we have it with rich 'celebrities' being paid fees to humilaite themselves for the edification of the viewing public.

What sort of a viewing nation have we become where making people ill is seen as entertainment? If we have slid down that path in a mere forty years, what sort of a dystopian future are we headed for?

Are we going to torture animals for amusement? Oh, I forgot, we've already done that in this horrible programme - but because the creatures concerned do not make any noise when eaten alive, and are not judged attractive enough for anyone to disgusted at their treatment, only their appearence.

I honestly think we have to have a serious look at what sort of a culture we are turning into, and maybe think about stopping this nonsense, however popular it may be.

Popularity is simply not justification for this kind of programme - let's be honest, you could produce a show of bear baiting and it would achieve an audience.

Time to stop pandering to the worst in people, before we start 'entertaining' ourselves with spectacles that would make the ancient Romans turn away.

[andy-hughes]

pixie - // People just always have and always will like a bit of slapstick. I don't think that's bad, or even a change. These people are consenting, presumably- medically checked first, physically and mentally and given proper care if needed. //

This is actually my point.

Yes, you can get people to do, and have done to them just about anything that does not break the law, and doesn;t kill them, if you pay them money, and yes, you can get an auydience, often a very large one, to watch that go on.

But my point is, is that really what we want to be delivering and experiencing for our entertainment? Is it really a good thing to encourage people in the belief that hurting and humiliating people for fun is a good thing to do?

I think it plays to the darker side of human nature, and as is the way with human, nature, once that slope is stepped on, it starts to get steeper very quickly.

As I pointed out on my OP - the '80's, we watched aghast at the cruelty of the Japanese for making and watching these TV shows, and now we are doing it too, and that to me is a bad move.

[pat2604]

I would ask, Andy, how on earth it could be decided whether or not programmes which I may consider moronic are not made for the reasons you give. It all comes down to censorship. Personally I think the show is Moronic, but lots of non morons watch it. If I find something offensive and made for Moron's.I simply don't watch it. I hope this answers your postin some way.
Lottie

[naomi24]

//Moderators are not permitted to use their powers to censor exchanges in which they are involved personally. //

That cannot possibly be true.

[andy-hughes]

naomi - // //Moderators are not permitted to use their powers to censor exchanges in which they are involved personally. //

That cannot possibly be true. //

Think what you like - I know better than you do what Moderators can and can't do, so I am not derailing the thread with your nonsense.

Take it up with the Editor.

[pixie374]

Are they really having proper pain and humiliation? I haven't seen it in years.
If we are going from Christians being thrown to lions, to Clive James, to Richard Madeley sitting in a bucket of goo... the "slippery slope" is upwards at least.

I've laughed out loud at a drunken friend stupidly falling over, but wouldn't have, if he'd fallen over a cliff edge. This seems a mild degree?

[naomi24]

AH, //I know better than you do what Moderators can and can't do//

Perhaps you only know what you can and can't do. ;o)

[andy-hughes]

Lottie - // I would ask, Andy, how on earth it could be decided whether or not programmes which I may consider moronic are not made for the reasons you give. It all comes down to censorship. Personally I think the show is Moronic, but lots of non morons watch it. If I find something offensive and made for Moron's.I simply don't watch it. I hope this answers your postin some way.
Lottie //

It is an interesting point, and the appreciation of people's choice is a vital one to be considered.

My belief is that, as a soceity, we make certain rules in order to make sure that our siceity retains its sense of civilisation.

For that reason, we do censor the output in our media, and I believe that is a good thing if its reasons are rooted in the good of the majority.

That is why I think prgrammes like this should be discontinued - in my view they pander to the darker side of human nature, and that is simply not good for us as a culture.

It will continue to be made as long as it attracts the large audience it enjoys, but I simply point out that in my view, it is not a route that entertainment should be taling - and every journey starts with the first step.

I am still waiting to see if anyone who enjoys the show, and watches it regularly, has a view on my points about it, but thanks for your point which is interesting.

[Bobbisox1]

I will concede I hate it when they got a bunny and a squirrel , I turn it off then back on again to watch the rest, it seems I’m the only ‘moron’ on here who watches it , they’ll axe it I’m sure now :0(

[andy-hughes]

naomi - // AH, //I know better than you do what Moderators can and can't do//

Perhaps you only know what you can and can't do. ;o) //

I know that I know more about Moderators' powers than you ever will, so why not change the record, and stop trying to rerail the thread with your pointless nonsense.

[pat2604]

Actually I find so much tv moronic these days that out of all those channels we struggle to find decent programmes. But perhaps
I'm a TV snob? ... ....No, I'm a moron I watch Corrie!

[naomi24]

AH, ;o)))

[andy-hughes]

Bobbi - // I will concede I hate it when they got a bunny and a squirrel , I turn it off then back on again to watch the rest, it seems I’m the only ‘moron’ on here who watches it , they’ll axe it I’m sure now :0( //

Interesting - I was not aware that they had graduated to absuing highter animal orders in pursuit of viewers.

My initial reaction to the show was disgust at the cruelty to animals that are dumb, and make no sound when eaten alive, and are not considered attractive enough to engender horror and symnpathy in the viewers over their ill-treatment.

[Bobbisox1]

Does that mean you’ve never watched it then Andy?
I wonder why Cruelty to animals haven’t intervened , seem very odd

[andy-hughes]

Lottie - // Actually I find so much tv moronic these days that out of all those channels we struggle to find decent programmes. But perhaps
I'm a TV snob? ... ....No, I'm a moron I watch Corrie! //

I don;t thinka anyone should judged negatively for their choices in entertainment.

For me, the responsibility lies with programme makers and broadcasters who have the power to stay out of the gutter for the good of society as whole.

[naomi24]

Lottie, //Actually I find so much tv moronic these days ...//

Me too. And I can't be doing with all the hysteria either. If they're not all crying at heart-wrenching tales of misery or heart-warming tales of triumph over adversity, they're all shouting and screaming because someone's got a question right.

PS. I'm not a moron. I don't watch Coronation Street. ;o)

[Bobbisox1]

Pat, perhaps that’s why I watch it,I’m not a film watcher and like costume drama and documentaries which are thin on the ground right now and out of all the Sky channels we have, most stuff is repeats , I suppose I could knit some yogurt ;0)

[andy-hughes]

Bobbi - // Does that mean you’ve never watched it then Andy? //

I watched a few minutes of one of the first episodes, until someone ate something alive which, call me old-fashioned, I regard as cruel rather than amusing or entertaining, and I have never watched it since.

//I wonder why Cruelty to animals haven’t intervened , seem very odd //

A fair point, I don't know why either.

[andy-hughes]

naomi - // And I can't be doing with all the hysteria either. If they're not all crying at heart-wrenching tales of misery or heart-warming tales of triumph over adversity, they're all shouting and screaming because someone's got a question right. //

Agree entirely, the utterly OTT emotional soul-baring that seems to permeate every entertainment show out there is really wearing, but there has to be audiences for that sort of output, becauser it is on with tedious regularity, making selective viewing even more essential.

// I'm not a moron. I don't watch Coronation Street. ;o) //

Nor me - but it's not because i don't watch Coronation Street! My wife never misses, and she is not a moron either!!!!!

[pat2604]

Unfortunately, that's what life is like now. Gutter media in all it's forms, constituting a large part in the breakdown of society behaviour. It is now even reflected on this site.

[Bobbisox1]

I don’t mind the water and the hire walks etc and let’s face it, they’ll do anything to swell both their bank balances and careers
Moron, Newcastle