Having seen the first five seasons of Gogglebox, the original British version of The People's Couch, that is outrageously smart and witty, I was interested in watching the American version. So how can I put this tastefully? The People's Couch is like comparing an inflatable woman with a beautiful, real life flesh and blood one. A Godawful imitation of the real thing. What a pitiful, abysmal disaster. Where the British version tapes ordinary people in ordinary homes, all with delightful and variegated personalities, brimming with acidic humor, The People's Couch tapes airbrushed, impeccably made-up, tastefully garbed viewers that come across as witless clones from The Stepford Wives. Don't any of these people interact with other members of the human race? The producers of this show have obviously taken the British format in their selection of viewers (i.e. a handful of black characters, a trio of gays, a couchful of old people, a couple of families etc) but what they obviously failed to do at the very outset was interview them to see if they were actually INTERESTING and SMART. Most of the viewers come across as incredibly dumb and plasticized versions of real people. Why on earth didn't the producers interview a cross-section of the American public, people with street-smarts, instead of simply grabbing a fistful of "types", selected by age and racial make-up, with no consideration for whether they have personalities suited to TV. The two gay guys in the British version are hysterically funny in their down to earth bitchiness, whereas the American trio, exquisitely made up and clothed in the latest fashion, come across as empty-headed narcissists who merely pose in front of the camera with no opinion on anything. The trio of black viewers equally have nothing to offer, unlike the two black women in the British version who are a fantastically glorious delight in their honest and outlandish reactions and opinions. The three old women in the American version, substituting for the elderly married couple in the British version, are the only ones that have anything to offer in the way of entertainment. So many reality shows are condemned for setting up situations for the camera and The People's Couch is no exception. The HUGE problem with the American version of Gogglebox is that it is so incredibly artificial. Nothing appears to be natural and the "performers" are as dull as ditchwater. If the producers want the American version to continue then they need to get their act together and choose armchair viewers who can give unvarnished opinions on the state of American programming and actually have personalities suited to TV. To those who have never seen the original Gogglebox, look for it on the Internet and you will discover a glittering diamond instead of this pitiful zirconia.
