Guest Author - Lauren Evans
The great British trend for parenting by reality television continues on BBC 3 in 'The World’s Strictest Parents', in which parents send their beloved offspring off to a variety of locations, including Ghana, South Africa and Alabama to live with strict disciplinarian families. This week, I checked out the Jamaican version of the show, where Sam and Charlotte go to stay with the Rose family. Its tears before bedtime for Sam, who finds out that he is expected not to smoke, whether inside or outside the house, and that he will also be required to attend the Rose's Anglican church, despite having lost his faith in Christianity at home. Unsurprisingly, after spending 10 days in the real Jamaica and not the tourist beach haven they had in mind, both teenagers realise that they are uber-privileged whingers and that their parents aren’t necessarily evil monsters on a mission to eliminate fun from their lives. While I love a good reality television programme, it's difficult not to wonder what the rash of "Take My Horrible Teenager Away and Fix Them" programmes are doing to the standard of parenting in this country. While Sam and Charlotte are certainly difficult kids, they’re not particularly criminal or deviant, and it worries this critic that there just aren't enough reality channels to "fix" every British teen – perhaps we need to begin a new reality craze, in which hopeless parents are shipped off to an island to learn how to say "no" to their children properly, while their temporarily orphaned families get a taste of the real world at home without them?
'Little Britain USA' has returned to home shores, and is currently being broadcast on BBC Three. The last UK series of 'Little Britain' was a severe disappointment, introducing a host of painful-to-watch characters and relying heavily on gross-out humour. Matt Lucas and David Walliams have clearly taken note of reactions to the series, as 'Little Britain USA' is a return to form. Having taken the best of the British – Emily "I'm a lady!" Howard, Lou and Andy, Vicky Pollard - and transplanted them into new surroundings, along with some all-new American characters, the comedy has been spruced up and revitalised for new audiences, and once again we are reminded why Little Britain became the country’s raging comedy obsession a few Christmases ago.
The second series of BBC Three's 'Touch Me I'm Karen Taylor' is being given another run, now appearing on Sunday nights at 10pm. It's damn funny in places, but the over-reliance on sex for the laughs is slightly disappointing, and means the sketches are a somewhat hit and miss affair. That said, Karen's blunt Northern delivery is enjoyable to watch, and she nails her characters so precisely that you will recognise friends, family and unpleasant colleagues all being delightfully sent up.
