03
Feb

This week, a list was revealed of the ten most-watched programmes put out during 2011 by that paragon of tasteful broadcasting, Channel 4. Though Channel 4 can generally be relied on to put out content that appeals to the viewing public’s more prurient sensibilities (yes, I wasn’t being entirely serious when I called it a paragon of tasteful broadcasting), it also occasionally features less voyeuristic programming, as demonstrated by the presence of Big Fat Quiz of the Year and Grand Designs in the top ten. However, the three biggest draws were all permutations of the indescribable My Fat Gypsy Wedding, with the top five rounded out by televisual carnival of horrors Embarrassing Bodies and rose-tinted council estate chucklefest Shameless.

Although MFGW is, as its name suggests, a documentary series following young Irish traveller couples around on their big day, any pretension toward sentimentality is secondary to outlandish spectacle, such as that of a young woman with an orange face dancing around in semi-darkness wearing a dress stuffed with giant glowsticks; Embarrassing Bodies, meanwhile, presents the viewer with a parade of individuals afflicted with some often quite horrific maladies; while Mancunian sitcom Shameless centres around a family living on a council estate who have all sorts of hilarious adventures and generally live a picturebook existence which belies the privation one would generally associate with the reality of surviving on benefits in recession-hit Britain.

The fact that close to ten million Brits tuned in to watch a single episode of MFGW speaks volumes about the mindset of the television-viewing public. Watching television remains a popular tool of escapism, a way for the average man, woman or child to forget the reality of their existence for a few hours, and surely the ultimate form of feel-good escapism is pointing and laughing at the predicament of others – be they a gypsy bride dolled up like some nightmarish tea cosy, one of the unfortunates in Embarrassing Bodies, or the drug-addled alcoholic patriarch of Shameless.

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