As I’m a student, you might expect that I watch a lot of daytime television. Luckily – or sadly, depending on your point of view – my timetable this year has meant I’ve seen little. However, since finishing my exams I have begun to roll out of bed at the perfect time for a bit of mid-afternoon TV. Ironically, the main show we watch in our house is Loose Women. It’s ironic because we are a home of three militant feminists. Admittedly we watch with a sense of morbid fascination, looking at how others live.
Loose Women, simply from the name of the programme, is going to be the bane of any feminist’s life. And it is truly horrific – not so much from the political angle, although that is painful, but more because it is simply awful.The female presenters sit on a panel and discuss essentially pointless subjects such as – I tell you no lies – “Should doctors wear uniforms?” Perhaps it’s just me, but I’m sure there are more important things to discuss – even on daytime telly. What is also terrible is the futile nature of the interviews with whichever celebrity is unlucky enough to appear as a guest. I think they could have Gary Glitter on and never quite get onto his paedophilic convictions.
As for the politics, one might hope, with a panel of women who have done well in their careers, there would be at least a mildly feminist angle. But they all still cling resolutely to societal norms, discussing how they have been unlucky in love or how they have to find a man to fulfil their lives.
Another staple of daytime television is Jeremy Kyle. Until recently, my flatmate hated The Jeremy Kyle Show so much that she wouldn’t even let me have it on in the house – admittedly with some justification. I hadn’t, therefore, watched it for quite a long time and so was quite shocked when I did tune in.What drives people to appear on the show so is beyond me. The only logical explanation is a financial one and perhaps the chance to appear on TV.
Jeremy Kyle cashes in on the difficult lives of the working class by getting them on to discuss their problems such as illegitimate children or affairs. It is clear that nothing is solved by their appearance on the programme, with inconsistent lie detector tests being taken as gospel. The difficulties these people have, which are mostly caused by their poverty, could be addressed much more satisfactorily in a private environment, but their dirty laundry is aired for the amusement of the watching public.
Jeremy Kyle anchors the show, handing out his so-called rough justice. Rather than offering helpful advice, he berates and shouts at his guests telling many that they are stupid or not fit to be parents.There’s so much terrible daytime TV, out there, including the far to jolly for its own good This Morning and ghastly Australian soaps, Home and Away and Neighbours, which inexplicably still seem to be running, and even more interminably. And to leave the least until last, there is Doctors, where nothing ever happens apart from someone getting the sniffles.
There’s a reason for why many people avoid daytime television. My advice is that, if you are even remotely temped to watch TV between the hours of 11am and 5pm, don’t. Read a book, go for a walk, do something else – just don’t get sucked into the vortex that is Jeremy Kyle, Loose Women et al. You can feel your brain cells dying by the second
