The Circus Has Ended - Thank God !

[Marco]

It's all about the money...14 years worth....

He wouldn't have made a penny, if the 'viewing public' didn't have such an insatiable appetite for watching that nonsense!

Marco.

[Primalsea]

Ive never understood hoe the JK show ever existed. It sadly exposes the selfish nature of our species and the way we project our own failings onto others just to avoid owning our own truths. What really gets me is that that self absorbed nasty individual has made huge amounts of cash on the back of people’s misery.

You can’t blame the people that are on the show, they are just trying to understand their lives during a bad time. Reaching out for help is not a bad thing. However, taking advantage of the situation is.

[Minstrel SE]

The reality is that they were being preyed upon in a particularly insidious way to give other people their self satisfied kicks.

I dont feel the presenter ever really cared. To lecture these people in a pseudo middle class way is just patronising and offensive . You could argue that they have been let down by society but to parade peoples troubles on television for entertainment is a disgrace

The biggest worry is that it got viewing figures and its not the only show guilty of this looking down upon rubber necking.

I hope this now turns the tide and other crap like cant pay take it away are pulled

There is a nasty satisfaction being gained from the misery of others. A dark side of human nature which needs no encouragement

[Pigmy Pony]

The reality is that they were being preyed upon in a particularly insidious way to give other people their self satisfied kicks.

I dont feel the presenter ever really cared. To lecture these people in a pseudo middle class way is just patronising and offensive . You could argue that they have been let down by society but to parade peoples troubles on television for entertainment is a disgrace

The biggest worry is that it got viewing figures and its not the only show guilty of this looking down upon rubber necking.

I hope this now turns the tide and other crap like cant pay take it away are pulled

There is a nasty satisfaction being gained from the misery of others. A dark side of human nature which needs no encouragement

Well put Martin - I for one have rarely seen this programme, as I'm usually out working, and when not there's always other stuff to be getting on with (like playing records!), but on the occasions where a job stalls due to weather or something, an oft-heard sentence is "Well I may as well go home and watch Jeremy Kyle", Implying that watching or participating is what you do when you've nothing else going on.

I've always viewed the participants as just being the ones most likely to have nicked the tools from my van, without any thought for their circumstances, or their exploitation by JK and his producers. Thanks to yours and other's posts I'm seeing another side to it now, and I feel a bit bad about just seeing it as a harmless send up.

These folk really need help and/or a kick up the backside, but airing their problems in public clearly isn't the way to go. Perhaps the publicity surrounding the axing of this show will make something positive happen, though I'm not holding my breath.

[mad-moon]

The whole lot was a send up...all ochestrated for the cameras, even the people who did get help from the show, was all a put up job organised before the show...Kyle., look at me, see how I am helping people. The guy who topped himself, couldn't handle the fact, that his bird didn't want him anymore. What on earth was he doing, appearing on the JK show in the first place, taking a lie detector test, then being found out for what he was.. How can this incident, be the cause? 14 years the show has been running..good grief, you shag one sheep....The whole lot has been blown out of proportion...again another knee jerk reaction...just like the Baker incident...it was entertainment for the chav's of society...what is gonna keep them out of your cars and houses now for that hour? TV reality shows are here, and here to stay. I don't particularly like any of them....fuck me... people in a house, sitting watching people sitting in a house...big brother...love island or what ever it's called..wasn't there a double suicide recently, did that show get axed?...

[Marco]

Hi Martin,

I wholeheartedly concur with your sentiments on the dark side of human nature, etc. However...

I hope this now turns the tide and other crap like cant pay take it away are pulled

...whilst I get where you're coming from and take no pleasure in witnessing genuine cases of hardship, I do like seeing the wealthy or those who insist on living WAY beyond their means (and who also feature highly on that programme) get their comeuppance, for trying to shaft the often much poorer folk that they haven't paid!

Therefore, in those instances, let's not forget who very often the *real* victims are, which are the claimants.....

So when I see those selfish, dishonest, materialistic wankers in their mansions, mortgaged up to their eyeballs, with two Ferraris and a Porsche sat outside, none of which they can actually afford, and all bought on the 'never, never', simply to project a false image of wealth to their friends and neighbours, get their just desserts, then I laugh my tits off, as I DETEST folk like that - especially when their pretentious spendthrift lifestyle has been funded on the back of someone else's misery!!

In general, people these days want WAY too much, especially in terms of material possessions, and somehow think that they are 'entitled' to a lifestyle that they simply can't afford. That, and the shameful and wasteful 'disposable society' we've created now, grinds my gears like you wouldn't imagine!

And so anything which highlights that fact and forces those guilty to come crashing down to earth, and FACE REALITY, in my view is to be encouraged, not least for showcasing that you must always take FULL PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for any debts *you* create, and if you can afford to clear them, then take your head out of the fucking sand and DO SO, rather than intentionally trying to live off the back of others, or pretend that the debts don't exist!

Therefore, if programmes such as 'Can't Pay, We'll Take it Away', or 'The Sheriffs are Coming', successfully send out that message and stop those guilty of such behaviour, then that has to be a good thing. Perhaps, in that respect, for the sake of morality, these shows should focus solely on those who have ran up huge debts, at the expense of others, and who *CAN* afford to pay, but won't (and so need taught a lesson), rather than those in the most unfortunate of circumstances who can't?

I'd still watch them, as that's the only bit I'm interested in. In my view however, given what I've said, these shows do fulfil a useful purpose/public service, and for reasons given, can be hugely entertaining!

Marco.

[Marco]

The whole lot was a send up...all ochestrated for the cameras, even the people who did get help from the show, was all a put up job organised before the show...Kyle., look at me, see how I am helping people. The guy who topped himself, couldn't handle the fact, that his bird didn't want him anymore. What on earth was he doing, appearing on the JK show in the first place, taking a lie detector test, then being found out for what he was.. How can this incident, be the cause? 14 years the show has been running..good grief, you shag one sheep....The whole lot has been blown out of proportion...again another knee jerk reaction...just like the Baker incident...it was entertainment for the chav's of society...what is gonna keep them out of your cars and houses now for that hour? TV reality shows are here, and here to stay. I don't particularly like any of them....fuck me... people in a house, sitting watching people sitting in a house...big brother...love island or what ever it's called..wasn't there a double suicide recently, did that show get axed?...

Excellent post!



As usual with these things, Alan, we're on the same page

Marco.

[Joe]

I've never seen any of these programmes, but then I don't relish watching other people's misfortunes, deserved or not. The audience for daytime TV seems to be made up of bloody students, OAPs and the unemployed, who I guess will watch any old shite. 'Cash in the Attic', 'Homes Under the Hammer', 'Bodies in the Basement', that sort of thing.

There's obviously an odd sort of attraction to 'misery memoirs' and similar for some people though; the covers of cheap magazines are full of horror stories about people coming to grief in various horrible ways. Is it the comfort the readers get from thinking 'There but for the grace of God', or is it more like rubbernecking at a car crash or other disaster?

[Joe]

love island or what ever it's called..wasn't there a double suicide recently, did that show get axed?...

Not yet, but then its ratings are even higher than Kyle's programme, so the TV companies have more to lose by cancelling it.

[Marco]

...but then I don't relish watching other people's misfortunes, deserved or not.

So if you were a member of a jury who had successfully convicted a (guilty) child molester, you wouldn't feel any sense of satisfaction in their subsequent 'misfortune'?

I know that's an extreme example, but for me ALL wrong-doing by anyone, which has had serious consequences in the life of others, deserves punished, and so I take great satisfaction from having seen justice been done, no matter how that has happened.

Hey, maybe that's also why I love watching gangster films so much, and am fascinated by whole issue of karma?

Marco.