Rant

The Only Way Is Essex Vs Made In Chelsea (but really, who cares?)

Alex Gregg

3rd July 2011

Whilst one show ponders the oh-so-troublesome problems of the Chelsea elite, the other invades the shallow lives of Essex's resident socialites. Which would I prefer, you ask? I answer with a big, fat 'neither'.

Over the past 12 months, a new breed of reality show has desperately flung itself onto the small screen. October 2010 saw the introduction of intellectual (pause for sarcastic laugh) 'real-life' TV drama, The Only Way Is Essex, or as it's known to its clearly high-brow audience, TOWIE.

Essex ' where granite sparkles. Apparently.


Now, I'm all for watching a show to laugh at its inane stupidity but it seems that this isn't the done thing with TOWIE. People actually like this show ' it won a BAFTA for chrissakes. Seriously - what the hell? Am I the only one who thinks it's abysmal? Is watching a load of jumped-up would-be glamour models and night-club owners providing an all-too scripted reality really what passes for TV these days? You can't help but feel a bit sorry for the true population of Essex, if this is what they're being portrayed as.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town...

Where would you like me to sign for my HUGE package?


For every boob job, blingy necklace or chavvy retort that TOWIE graces us with, TV rival Made In Chelsea offers up a smarmy guffaw and a massive douche haircut in response. For those of you that don't know, Made In Chelsea (or 'MIC' if we're following the trend) is the new kid on the block. The Hook to TOWIE's Peter Pan, MIC follows the lives and woes of several wealthy twenty-somethings living in the upmarket Chelsea district of London.

With the leading cast members sporting names like Caggie, Hugo, Spencer, Fredrik and Camilla, MIC does little to save itself from utter ridicule. At least watching TOWIE can make some of the middle-class population feel better about themselves ' what does MIC do? It's bad enough watching an hour of not-so-reality-TV, but when you combine that with people who are stinking rich and put all us 'normies' who work hard to earn a standard wage to shame, you've got to honestly wonder if the show's makers are kidding themselves.
And it doesn't end here either. North of the border has now planted its stake in the franchise with Geordie Shore. Pass me a pack of playing cards or Scrabble right now people 'cause I may just swear off TV altogether.

This makes little to no sense.


That being said, these shows are pretty darn good if you need to royally take the piss out of something or release any anger. I personally recommend taping a photo of their faces to a punching bag.

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