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When Reality TV and Drama collide…

What the? This moment on MAFS was one of the more bizarre sights this week.

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Ok guys, can I get some feedback on this?

There was a moment in Married at First Sight this week that made me question where Reality TV ends and scripted Drama begins.

Sure, we know these shows are produced into an inch of their lives, nothing is real, everyone is manipulated blah, blah, blah.

But I don’t ever think I have seen the genre giving us voices from inside the heads of the participants. What the?

First person narration is usually left to Dramas like Sex and the City, Offspring and Desperate Housewives. I think I saw Manifest do voices-in-heads recently too.

But Reality TV?

Did producers get ‘runaway groom’ Sam, to step into a sound booth and deliver scripted lines: “She won’t stop talking…”, “It’s a bloody nightmare,” “Kill me”? The sound guys have even added a dreamy echo.

What’s next a dream sequence of his imagination?

While there is no rulebook on storytelling devices I do think shows should stick to their genre lane.

The ratings may be going through the roof and although the “Real” went out of “Reality” years ago, at least we could try keeping up appearances.  Guys…?

17 Responses

  1. I did not like it at all. I know MAFs is trash TV (which is why I love it) but the unspoken agreement is the audience plays along with the fly on the wall concept as long as the veneer of ‘reality’ is preserved. I thought the voices in the head was a step too far and slightly jarring.

  2. This show is the best of the reality shows. So, it has earned the right to innovate. Pushing the boundaries and exploring story-telling techniques is great. And whilst there is a danger it might one day tip over into shark-jumping territory, right now it has the audience eating out of their hands. Ultimately, the show is hysterical and wonderfully entertaining. Let the producers run wild, come up with new and crazy ideas for our entertainment. I salute the EP for having the stones to break from format. I bet there is a buzz of creativity in the production office. Great stuff.

  3. MAFS is what I like to call train wreck TV. You turn it on, turn of your brain and enjoy the fake BS marriages and watch as it all fulls apart. This how ever seemed creepy and low budget. These two “characters” are so fake and so well groomed it’s hard to tell if you’re watching a reality show or a drama or the start of some weird soft core porn.

    MAFS is all about the drama, no one is watching for the “love” stories, people want to see the couples fight and cheat. It’s a guilty pleasure to watch.

    Nine needs to decide if they want a scripted drama or a reality show.

  5. Not watching Mafs, but I think it is really telling, when even Wikipedia has its definition of ‘Reality TV’ as — quote–” Reality TV is a genre of television that documents ‘ supposedly ‘ unscripted real life situations “. ——- a very apt word , — supposedly–.

    1. Which is why they are really Competition shows, with a group of contestants, doing prescribed activities in order to win a prize. Whoever sold the fallacy of the term “Reality” should be congratulated as the best spin artist ever.

      The only real reality shows are called documentaries.

  6. I was thinking the same thing – I don’t think I’ve seen this on a reality tv show. It made me look up and I was totally on board with what the guy was saying… broke the fourth wall for sure – and couldn’t wait to hear her reply.
    Also – did anyone else see her put a slice of pizza in the toaster? Totally reminded me of the Steve Carrel character from Anchor Man putting yogurt in the toaster saying something inappropriate…

  7. I think it was ridiculous and the whole show is an insult to our intelligence ( but yeah I know, why can’t I stop looking at it). The guy was supposed to have gone missing in NZ with no word at all yet he knew when, where and at what time the dinner party was? Oh my my my !

  8. Also… if it really is part of the show’s story language it should at least be consistent. Do it regularly not as a random one-off. Let’s hear what people are really thinking. I might be more on board with that. “Who are these monkeys they call experts? Why did I sign up for this? Why did they wake us up at 4am and start filming at 1pm?”

  9. I found this scene hilarious and I love when reality TV throws fun, ridiculous moments like this in. Basically all they did was take one of Sam’s solo confessionals (or piece to camera, whatever you want to call it) and played it as his thoughts. It was super funny and I hope MAFS continues doing more silly stuff like this for laughs.

      1. I thought the same. His blank face for an extended period was the perfect canvas to play a voice-over of his talking head piece, which would have made the scene go on too long – this was an amusing, and expedient way to present the two points of view.
        I think they added the echo effect to simulate ‘Sam’s thoughts’ for fun, but also to help the grasp of those viewers who would otherwise wonder why they couldn’t see his mouth move!

    2. I reckon this is on the money. It sounds like a piece to camera like they do in a lot of reality shows, except they’ve added reverb for dramatic effect. I stopped watching the Australian Amazing Race at season 3 when Seven took over production and started doing MKR style contestant voice-over sequences like this that sound forced and describe what you can already see with your own eyes.

  11. I thought it very odd too
    If a contestant” can post-record a voiceover while he isn’t speaking, one assumption could be that the whole conversation was a planned set-up so his voiceovers would fit in later
    Reality or Drama? Hard to tell but definitely scripted

  12. Nothing unusual for contestants to do retrospective narration (scripted) to edit in between scenes. I guess this is just the same but they’re not doing it on camera and making it a voice over.

    Ridiculous show in any case. I couldn’t watch it. I see a few minutes of it on Gogglebox and that’s me done. I wish I could see what other people love about this show.

    1. Agree, it’s really no different to what MKR and others do with people narrating what they were thinking and feeling at the time. The added “inside your head echo” is the stupid bit.

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