Instead of slogging through yet another iteration of The Real Housewives, and The X Factor why not venture out of your reality TV comfort zone
Here’s a list of the most jaw-dropping reality TV shows we could find from around the world. Settle back into those couch cushions — this YouTube hole is going to be a deep one.
1. Norway: Hours of live knitting.
The NRK TV network, which previously brought Norwegians minute-by-minute coverage of a crackling fire, a seven-hour train ride, and an even longer boat ride, recently aired a live program chronicling the creation of a sweater.
It’s the latest in a phenomenon called “slow,” in which very ordinary events are broadcast in real time. But the latest show, National Knitting Evening, was actually more action-packed than its predecessors: Over the course of 12 hours, viewers experienced every step of the sweater-making process, from the shearing of the lamb to the knitting of the garment. It was an attempt on the part of the network to break an obscure world record for knitting currently held by Australia.
Ironically, Norway’s penchant for the slow but steady ensured its downfall, as the knitting team not only failed to break the world record but took more than twice as long as expected to finish their sweater. The show still got pretty decent ratings: More than 1.2 million Norwegians tuned in.
2. Zambia: From working girl to wife
Ready4Marriage, a Zambian reality competition show, ordinarily pits couples against one another for the chance to win a wedding sponsorship and a cash prize, but producers decided to change things up during the third season. They brought on a cast of 18 sex workers with the purported aim of readying them for marriage.
“A woman who is ready for marriage is a woman who can manage a home,” said the show’s host, Master Chimbala, in a network interview. He added that successful contestants should be able to “lead a family, lead a business, [and] manage finances from budget constraints to making investments.”
Accordingly, the contestants had to sweep floors, clean toilets and iron shirts for the chance to win $9,000 and a wedding sponsorship. Reviews of the show were mixed, but plenty of viewers applauded the contestants’ participation. In the end, the grand prize went to 25-year-old Precious Amukusana, who said she had turned to prostitution to provide for her sisters after their mother had died. (Zambia struggles with low GDP and development levels.) After winning, Amukusana told the Lusaka Times, “I’ve been turned in[to] a real woman, I will never get back to the old life.”
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3. Pakistan: Holiday baby giveaway
During Ramadan, Pakistanis are treated to a religious game show called Amaan Ramazan (aired on Geo TV) that rewards audience members for correctly answering questions about the Quran. Prizes include kitchen appliances, electronics, motorbikes — and, during the most recent season, babies.
The show’s host, Aamir Liaquat Hussain, presented two unsuspecting couples this year with baby girls supplied by an NGO that rescues abandoned babies.
One of the newly minted mothers told CNN that while she was “really shocked at first,” she was also “extremely happy” to receive the child. The baby episode has been widely criticised as a ratings stunt, but Hussain maintains that the giveaway was a charitable act.
Though Pakistan has no legal framework for adoption, both sets of parents who received children were reportedly vetted by producers and the NGO responsible for the infants. A follow-up report by the BBC found that both families were happy and the babies cared for.
4. Britain: Sex in front of a live studio audience
A new British talk show invites couples to have sex on television in front of a live studio audience. Alas, it’s not as racy as it sounds: The couples copulate in an opaque, soundproof box, and then emerge to discuss the experience with a panel of sexperts.
The show, straightforwardly named Sex Box, is part of a Channel 4 campaign that aims to combat a culture of rampant pornography by promoting dialogue about “real sex.” The show aired in tandem with another series, Porn on the Brain, the first episode of which examined how teenage girls reacted to pornography in contrast to their male peers, finding that the images “provoked emotions of fear, confusion and anger in girls,” while boys “mainly felt excitement or happiness.” In the clip provided here from Sex Box, a male couple enters the box, hoping to shatter misconceptions about gay sex.
5. Venezuela: Live-streaming socialism
Every week for ten years, former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hosted and starred in a live talk show called Alo Presidente, in which he frequently sermonized, ranted about America, forcefully communed with common people, and made sweeping, off-the-cuff policy decisions affecting millions.
Each broadcast began at 11am on Sunday and ran for up to eight hours.
