castaway - appalling

[Don Redondo]

Given the relative dearth of decent progs on TV last night, and me laid up with the remains of a dose of flu, I thought I'd give Castaway a look in, hoping it would follow a similar format to the Taransay experience of a few years back.

But no, what we got was *Big Brother on an Island* with a dose of any other reality/competition show thrown in. All that seemed to happen was a bunch of numpties, seemingly chosen for their ability to not get on with each other, and their seemingly total inability to cope.. spent the time bickerring and arguing, usually about the one guy who was trying to get a grip...

Then they voted another guy the 'least useful' or something like that. As 'punishment' he was banished to a shed and hammock on a neighbouring beach with a load of bushcrafty stuff [ok maybe not that bushcrafty] where he would have a week to himself.

If that was me I'd have leaped for joy, just to get away from all the other idiots around.

will I watch again? I doubt it.

 

[anthonyyy]

The worst rubbish I've seen on TV for a long time.

 

[spamel]

Didn't see it, but from what you describe it is definitely one to miss! I agree with you on the person being voted away for a week by himself. I'd stay there and fight anyone off who tried to get me back in with the crowd again! I remember a programme where a bunch of people went through the jungle, one of the guys was a soldier in the Royal Engineers and started to make command decisions as any soldier would, and folk griped about it even though they didn't want to be the "Leader". He should have left them all to it!

 

[Don Redondo]

my thoughts entirely.

As the camera panned around I thought:

'if I was here I'd head for those trees and see what there was. And then down the beach to see about supper'

Then I decided I'd become a hermit and have nothing to do with the rest. There are a few kindred spirits who seem to be totally diillussioned with the antics of the rest. Actually I think there will be a split, hopefully on 'Lord of the flies' lines and then it might be worth tuning in again! .... now that would be reality TV

 

[Klenchblaize]

Sad stuff indeed but at least the Conservative party offers that little bit more! :Wow:

Sorry, this is what apparently happens as you approach 50!

Cheers

 

[oops56]

It all boils down to the good o money making some shows ok but they don't go into it to deep they don't say try this at home till you get good at it plus not ever one watching these type of shows so their is a lot of idiots out there that cant chew gum and walk at the same time

 

[Ogri the trog]

....a lot of idiots out there that cant chew gum and walk at the same time

Now that made me laugh, multitasking at its finest.
I caught a few seconds of the show, enough to see the - big brother does another "show that'll turn your brain into custard" routine - and opted for a book instead.

Shan't bother again

Ogri the trog

 

[tonymac]

on the other side of those trees is a regular campsite and there is a curry house within a 10 minute drive away,( according to the awful newspaper that came free with a £1.40 dvd of merlin that I bought at the newsagents yesterday).
So the isolation is only an illusion, anyone with half a mind would no doubt discover this soon by means of exploration ( a walk to the woods to maybe determine what resourses were around) cant belive that with that many people there that nobody has done that, and one of them appears to have been a royal marine once.
over all its just a waste of time along with 95% of the rubbish on television, I wanted to get shot of ours but the wife and kids over ruled me, still nobody makes us watch it do they?

 

[Jedadiah]

I watched the first episode on Friday without much hope of there being any survival/bushcraft featured and guess what! I was right.

Against my better judgement, i turned over to BBC 3 straight afterwards to watch Castaway plus or whatever it was called and was dumbstruck to see Richard Bacon ( a man with nothing to say, yet says it too loudly!) berating the friends and family of the victims, sorry, contestants. At this point i was about to utilize my mood stabiliser (off button) when they introduced their resident survival expert.

NO WAY is this guy SERIOUS! Cue VT of Myke Wylde, United States Special Forces Green Beret survival Instructor for 24 years (the guy is in his early thirties!), posing in some post apocolyptic diorama, flexing and grimacing in a cross between Action Man and some catalogue poses.

He then sat with his hands on his hips,looking out from under arched eyebrows and talking like a cross between Clint Eastwood in Heartbreak Ridge and Steven Segal in any of his movies 'with three word titles'.

It was honestly one of the toe-curlingly funny things i have seen for a long time. I thought it was a mickey take! I half expected them to take it to the logical conclusion where, at the end of the interview, Myke saluted Dick, sorry, Richard, as three low flying helicopters passed by in the near background (cue inspirational music.)

However, i concur with the other contributers to this thread. But if you get the opportunity, check out Myke! Make sure you've been to the toilet first!

 

[JohnC]

http://www.specops.com/bio_m_hawke.htm
Hes been around... I havent seen the series, Bear Grylls is what we watch in our house

 

[Jodie]

It was a bit gruesome wasn't it. I remember the first one quite fondly but I'm
not sure if that's just nostalgia talking.

I had a look at 'Danny's diary'* (Danny being the host) which showed the
contestants trying to pack everything they needed (bikinis mostly, it would
seem) into a medium sized rucksack - and there was quite a nice bit where
the locals welcomed them formally.

Was the first series as bad and I just didn't notice? I liked that Ben Fogle
chap though. I remember there being conflict when a family left due to
religious differences but I don't remember any salacious gossip from the
tabloids which seems to have started up already.

*... and you can too by pressing the red button on your remote control

 

[locum76]

aye it was utter sh*** right enough.

 

[fred gordon]

This is why the TV people make these horrible programmes - we react like this, talk about them, cause others to watch. There is no such thing as bad TV, only TV that people watch and that which they don't. If people stopped watching this stuff TV companies wouldn't make it. So the answer is...?

 

[locum76]

the answer is...

how does it go:

switch off yer tv set and do something less boring instead..

 

[Joff]

I agree that it is purile drivel but it can be quite interesting to watch the interactions between the people involved. The group psychology can be fascinating especially when schisms occur and you get 2 or more sub groups forming. They did that deliberately to start with by having half the group arrive a few days before the second half. The second half were instantly put on a back foot in terms of territorial rights and they countered that by being quite aggressive and trying to control the situation.

I don't like this type of programme but I do find that you can learn something from them. It may not be a real survival situation but it is important to bear in mind that a group of people in that kind of sitaution will probably react in a similar way - alliances, power struggles etc and so it is important to be aware of them.

Life is too short to miss out on opportunities to learn something new.

As for them not exploring - they may have been briefed that it is against the rules to go snooping and could get chucked off the island if they transgressed.

Joff

 

[oldsoldier]

Sounds like the Survivior program over here!! Funny thing is, though, that they DO actually feed the folks, just not all that much. After all, people dying on your show wouldnt do well with the ratings.
I watch it purely to see people complain about others...it amuses me that they cannot come together as a group. And, they have a tendency to vote out the strongest folks, becuase they pose a "threat". Gotta love "reality" TV. I'd be voting myself constantly to spend the time alone, away from the group.
The one currently on in the states, these folks didnt have any food at asll. They spent two days, ah, foraging around on top of a bare mountain. After a fruitless 2nd day, they "dicovered" pineapples about 20 yards from them. Kinda sad...

 

[Thrym]

I agree that it is purile drivel but it can be quite interesting to watch the interactions between the people involved. The group psychology can be fascinating especially when schisms occur and you get 2 or more sub groups forming. They did that deliberately to start with by having half the group arrive a few days before the second half. The second half were instantly put on a back foot in terms of territorial rights and they countered that by being quite aggressive and trying to control the situation.

I don't like this type of programme but I do find that you can learn something from them. It may not be a real survival situation but it is important to bear in mind that a group of people in that kind of sitaution will probably react in a similar way - alliances, power struggles etc and so it is important to be aware of them.

Life is too short to miss out on opportunities to learn something new.

As for them not exploring - they may have been briefed that it is against the rules to go snooping and could get chucked off the island if they transgressed.

Joff

sorry to go off topic but nice fractal Joff
did you make it yourself?

 

[Greg]

It sounds like the type of c**p my wife always watches!!:yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :aargh4: :aargh4: :aargh4:

 

[Tadpole]

I

I don't like this type of programme but I do find that you can learn something from them. It may not be a real survival situation but it is important to bear in mind that a group of people in that kind of sitaution will probably react in a similar way - alliances, power struggles etc and so it is important to be aware of them.

Life is too short to miss out on opportunities to learn something new.

As for them not exploring - they may have been briefed that it is against the rules to go snooping and could get chucked off the island if they transgressed.

Joff

Who amongst us here would jump at the chance to kick off the whole lot of Big-brother rejects, and swap places with them for three months?
I remember watching the first series, and thinking if only my boss would give me a year off I’d have applied like a shot.
Three months being paid to live on an island where all you have to do is put up with the cameras and you get to practice bushcraft all day is almost as good as spending the same amount of time on a “brat camp”, but with out all the hippy bull chips that goes with it.

 

[Joff]

Thrym

Yes I did do the fractal myself. I used a programme called Apophysis which is a freebie. Really good fun and it creates .png files which can be used as wallpaper. You just need a decent photo editing package to convert to jpg.

Cheers

Joff