Tuesday, April 29, 2003

 

Married By America
"Married by America" is yet another reality TV program which has been on for the past several weeks. I was visiting a friend earlier this week and he had recorded several hours including the final 2 hour episode. He said I had to see this last 2 hours. So, we dug out some beer, a couple of really decent microbrews that seem to abound here in the Pacific Northwest. I love microbrews. My frined had a full shelf in the fridge ready for the evening. We skimmed over the first several hours so I could see the various couples matched by a panel and the viewers. I saw a number of nice couples, and they all seemed to be getting off to a good start, but one by one, couples were eliminated. Finally, the panel and the audience voting brought it down to 2 couples, both of which are really getting along well. Now, comes the final 2 hours in which the weddings will happen for the 2 couples. The 1st couple really look good together and get to the point of the "I DO" and the lady backs out. She says she just can't do it because it was simply too fast, and too short a time for such a long committment, and to her the committment of a lifelong relationship was key. He was upset a bit, but says he understood her reasoning and both famlies and groups of friends part in relatively good spirits. No confrontations, nothing really emotional from either group of family and friends. She was quite the babe! The 2nd couple end up the same, only it is the guy guy who says no this time when he is supposed to say "I DO." Her family and friends are really upset with him, that he had a lot of chances to back out, and to wait until the last moment was unacceptable. There are a number of scenes of angry people speaking their piece on how angry they are that he backed out at the last minute. Later, he explains he was caught up in the whole thing and it hit him at the last moment that he just could not make the final move. It was because he had this final doubt, that he said he would not do it. She says she will not be seeing him again, ever, and she hoped he would understand. She is really broken up about it, as she was really set on getting married and she thought she had the one she was going to live with forever. Of the 4 people, she is the only one who seems like she was determined to get married and looking forward to doing it. Of the 4 people, the 2nd lady was the one most committed, based on the 4 people and what they all say. The audience selected the 1st couple as the one to receive the prizes as a result if they married, but since no one got married, no one gets the prize. The final scenes show what has hapened to the 5 couples and none of them are doing much of anything together seriously at the moment, but some have remained in touch. The 1st couple for the wedding in the final show have agreed to stay engaged and to see what happens in the future. So, I guess it ended well for the most part. I was surprised that the final 2 couples both backed out at the last minute, which is why my friend wnated me to see this. I had been sceptical about reality TV programs and I think all of them are mostly scripted. I have a feeling this was scripted as well, so my opinion has not changed about scripting as a result of seeing this new one, but this was a surprise ending which I did not expect from a reality TV show! Wow! No happy ending! This was definitely a change of pace for reality TV programs and I am glad my friend showed it to me. And on top of all that, we had a pleasant evening, drank more than a few decent microbrews and had a pizza with everything including anchovies, though I am not exactly partial to anchovies, except when a couple are added on top of a Ceasar salad. I had a really good evening which topped off a really good day, so all in all, I've got no complaints.

Posted by: Rowlfe - at: 4/29/2003 12:48:00 PM

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