TV Shows that you imagine were a nightmare behind the scenes

[Rolf Lundgren]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lads%27_Army

In one series, there's two brothers and they kick off up and down the first few days. I distinctly remember one of the brothers just vanishing.

Rewatched the lot recently, all 4 series on YouTube, and it's still fascinating and a great piece of television.

In many ways it was a recruiting tool for the army but the psychology of it was very interesting. There was no excuse for anything and a problem could never not be solved by shouting at it. Mindless tasks, repetition and bollockings interspersed with moments of dry humour. The two corporals very quickly became surrogate dads for the lads and were both experts at knowing when to apply pressure or put an arm round them.

The two brothers were in the second series and I heard an interview with Nooky saying he was convinced the producers paid them more money to play up. They were both awful but can imagine quite a few of the lads played up as well.

[Clownbaby]

I'd love to know what really went down behind the scenes of series one of the Doctor Who revival. It sounds chaotic.

Eccleston has never gone into specific detail, but nevertheless he's made it clear that he wasn't happy with the way the cast and crew were treated. There have been rumours of stunts going dangerously wrong, and people being made to work under generally unacceptable circumstances (*cough* Barrowman *cough*).

Eccleston has vowed never to work with RTD and co ever again. He always comes across as a decent, principled bloke, so I don't think this is a case of some prissy actor having a strop. He sounds genuinely troubled by the whole experience.

And recently there was something about Noel Clarke being a cunt, not particularly stated as being linked to Doctor Who but you've got to wonder if it overlapped somehow. I seem to remember him coming across like a wanker at the time in intreviews (Noel Clarke) and getting a gut feeling of "cunt"

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Clarke#Sexual_misconduct_allegations

[Clownbaby]

I'd been enjoying the first series of Silicon Valley and then, after looking the show up, discovered that most of the guys knew eachother from improv and that general circle was toxic and nasty. Not dragging everyone on the show into it but it was a bit offputting to find out that TJ Miller - who to be honest I hadn't heard of but he looks like Justin Lee Collins so I should have known - is by many accounts a creepy wanker and so is the main bloke (apparently) but I forget his name.

[C_Larence]

I bet gogglebox is a nightmare, trying to appease a bunch of personalities who believe they're the main stars of the show.

First Dates too, mainly because I've heard the french maître d/kitchen sink philosopher is a cunt

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Urgh, that Fred chap from First Dates really makes my shit itch. He styles himself as some sort of relationship guru despite being nothing more than a glorified waiter. Can he even cook anything? At least with a homegrown cunt like Ramsey he can put a decent spread on, but I don't know what Fred is even good at.

[badaids]

First Dates too, mainly because I've heard the french maître d/kitchen sink philosopher is a cunt

I have a finely tuned cunt radar and that bloke has a massive cross sectional area.

Please tell me what you've heard to justify my otherwise irrational theory.

[Des Wigwam]

Community, I imagine. Bit of a route 1 answer but between Chevy Chase and Harmon it must have been a chore at times.

[Des Wigwam]

I bet gogglebox is a nightmare, trying to appease a bunch of personalities who believe they're the main stars of the show.

First Dates too, mainly because I've heard the french maître d/kitchen sink philosopher is a cunt

Often wondered about that but I think they might get cut down pretty sharpish when they realise they are 100% replaceable within a week. Probably falls to some poor intern-type assistant to stroke their egos in the meantime though so yeah - I could offer up which ones I think are cunts.

Christ, I really think Gogglebox is a bit of a trigger for me.

French bloke is alright on Snack Masters. Outside of that I don't care for him.

[Norton Canes]

Often wondered about that but I think they might get cut down pretty sharpish when they realise they are 100% replaceable within a week

Yeah I'm sure any troublemakers would be (and indeed have been) slung off double-quick. Besides, the incentive is on the participants to perform as expected if they want to reap the rewards.

They don't watch the programmes at the broadcast times, throughout the week though do they? Makes more sense (in terms of having the room set up properly, have them made up and wearing the right clothes etc.) to get through the lot in one go. 

[Lordofthefiles]

I reckon Embarrassing Bodies would be absolutely horrid - all those intermingling smells in the backstage area would be enough to turn your hair white.

[Replies From View]

I bet TFI Friday was absolutely horrible to work on; horrible people beaking it up and acting the cunt during peal ladism.

Chris Evans himself must have been an awful presence, just his smugness would have been insufferable and I bet there was a permanent smell of farts coming off him day and night like hairdresser salons have

[oggyraiding]

https://www.vice.com/en/article/neaxqq/how-gogglebox-is-made

Lot of effort just to get mildly amusing soundbites.

Take Me Out another one that would be terrible. Herding thirty lairy young lasses to see them rip apart some awkward young bloke for having a hobby. I hope they had aftercare for the people humiliated in front of millions.

[Replies From View]

Didn't he have an eating disorder? I got the impression Barrowman being a sex pest is part of the reason why Eccleston left as well.

Someone should tell him it's not an eating disorder to not want a man's cock suddenly going in your mouth.

He's lived the rest of his life assuming it's his own issue, like the man in Being John Malkovich who believes he has a speech impediment.

[Replies From View]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Clarke#Sexual_misconduct_allegations

Tangentially related, I posted this in the 'cringe-inducing DVD commentaries' thread earlier in the week:

There's a commentary on the Doctor Who series 1 DVD that's quite unsettling to listen to - it's for the episode The Long Game, and it has just two people in the booth:  actors Bruno Langley and Christine Adams, and to my ears (and I have only heard this commentary the once, I must admit, and it was a decade ago) it sounded as though Langley was using the opportunity to come on to Adams, who just kept doing her best to ignore it.

I heard the commentary years before the sexual assault revelations came to light, and I had no idea who he was at the time - was just disappointed at first to have a couple of actors waffling away rather than the writer or anyone else - but immediately I sensed that it was horrible, and when years later I heard about the sexual assaults, I realised I may have been onto something, though I haven't since been back to check again.

The commentary was recorded before the revival was revealed to be a massive success, and there's a vibe throughout of Langley somehow forgetting he's being recorded or not knowing/caring how he might come across years later under scrutiny.

So go ahead, owners of this DVD:  scrutinise it and decide if I am right!  And I will too, to see whether I agree with my previous assessment.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Take Me Out another one that would be terrible. Herding thirty lairy young lasses to see them rip apart some awkward young bloke for having a hobby. I hope they had aftercare for the people humiliated in front of millions.

On a similar note, Naked Attraction features an absolute nightmare combination of horny exhibitionists and the mentally ill. They must have to keep them in locked cells between takes to maintain safeguarding protocols.

[Replies From View]

Behind the scenes of Life of Earth were notoriously desolate, with David Attenborough insisting on bumming one ("and only one") of every creature shown on screen "because it is my show and I will do what I want".

The treefrogs apparently pinged off him quite dramatically, not because they were jumping as frogs do, but because he would accidentally press them inside out like those rubber hemisphere toys you would bounce off your desk as a kid.

[Kankurette]

Someone should tell him it's not an eating disorder to not want a man's cock suddenly going in your mouth.

He's lived the rest of his life assuming it's his own issue, like the man in Being John Malkovich who believes he has a speech impediment.

I meant Eccleston was actually anorexic.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I'd been enjoying the first series of Silicon Valley and then, after looking the show up, discovered that most of the guys knew eachother from improv and that general circle was toxic and nasty. Not dragging everyone on the show into it but it was a bit offputting to find out that TJ Miller - who to be honest I hadn't heard of but he looks like Justin Lee Collins so I should have known - is by many accounts a creepy wanker and so is the main bloke (apparently) but I forget his name.

Thomas Middleditch. As I recall, he was accused of creepiness by members of some sort of weird sex club. Imagine being too creepy for a bunch of perverts.

[Replies From View]

I meant Eccleston was actually anorexic.

Well that's what he assumes.  Let's just say the jury is out.

[jobotic]

I bet gogglebox is a nightmare, trying to appease a bunch of personalities who believe they're the main stars of the show.

Must be hard getting all those amateurs to remember their lines.


Ooh I'm so exquisitely cynical.

[Povidone]

Also,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eden_(2016_TV_series)

Watched the run of 5 episodes when they went mental and
covers a whole lot of :(

Just had a look at the wiki and feel this tidbit should be highlighted:

Unknown to the participants, broadcasting ceased after four episodes due to poor viewer ratings.

Fuckin HAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

Should be the new format from now on, get a load of vapid reality TV cunts into what they think is a show, then don't broadcast it, or even film it, just leave them wherever you left them.

[Sonny_Jim]

The treefrogs apparently pinged off him quite dramatically, not because they were jumping as frogs do, but because he would accidentally press them inside out like those rubber hemisphere toys you would bounce off your desk as a kid.

I hope he drilled a hole in the centre of each one in case some poor kid sucked out their eyeball.

[Replies From View]

I hope he drilled a hole in the centre of each one in case some poor kid sucked out their eyeball.

Certainly this was in place for The Trials of Life.  Not sure about The Living Planet.

[Replies From View]

Just had a look at the wiki and feel this tidbit should be highlighted:

Fuckin HAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

Should be the new format from now on, get a load of vapid reality TV cunts into what they think is a show, then don't broadcast it, or even film it, just leave them wherever you left them.

That's great.  This, too:

In March 2017, ten contestants had survived the full year experiment, but arrived home to find that the show had been cancelled after 4 episodes. The UK press picked up that many of the contestants left the site due to the disillusionment with the experiment, as well as tales of apparent near-starvation.[19] Those who had left the camp took to social media, suggesting the editing of the show did not offer a full picture.[19]

They were there for an entire year, came back to discover only 4 episodes had been broadcast, and complained that "the full picture" had not been communicated.  Brilliant!

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I meant Eccleston was actually anorexic.

Ah, so Barrowman was trying to provide him with extra protein?

[dissolute ocelot]

There's been a whole load of reality TV shows that have tried to get celebrities to do dangerous sports, with predictable consequences. Winter sports/ski jump thing The Games had loads of breakages, concussion, and other injury. Dancing on Ice was another; the season in early 2021 had to cope with both injuries and COVID and one week had to cancel the show because it was so bad. X-Factor "star" Jake Quickenden broke a bone in his neck. Here's a Digital Spy article on dangerous reality TV, which mentions some already discussed.

[A Hat Like That]

One French reality-adventure show had 2 helicopters crash during the filming, everyone on board was killed including three top athletes (one a 2008 bronze in boxing, another a 2012 swimming gold and a yachter).

It's pretty bleak.

Instead, here's live footage from La Meilleure Boulangerie de France.

[jamiefairlie]

Ah, so Barrowman was trying to provide him with extra protein?

Have to say that for all the hero worship of RTD round these parts, he has to take accountability for the shitshow he led in terms of behaviour. Culture comes from the top and he should have done something to make it stop.

[Kankurette]

If you get a load of people with no experience or training doing dangerous sports, or things like circus tricks, of course they're going to get hurt.

Cracked did a similar article about reality TV shows going horribly wrong, contestants killing themselves, that sort of thing. I'll see if I can find it.