Hoarders

When I moved out of Party Central, I said goodbye to mindless TV, as I only had freeview, so all of the really poor TV shows that I love: Four Weddings, Don't Tell the Bride, Hoarders, Super Sweet 'Spoilt Brats', etc., were all said goodbye too. BUT now, I'm house sitting with full Sky TV. I'm immersing myself in bad TV and I'm starting with my favourite!

The American TV show 'Hoarders' - now we're talking! I feel like I should justify that I don't love all hoarding TV shows, when Channel 4  produced 'The Hoarder Next Door', where they sent people suffering from OCD to clean the homes of kleptomaniacs/hoarders, I was very mad. There was minimal medical care or consideration for both sides, there was medical support at hand, it wasn't dealt with properly, seemed rushed and similar to full exploitation. After all, this is a terrible mental disorder that needs to be dealt with properly.

But the American show Hoarders, is pure joy...yes, it's still a kind of exploitation but at least they are accompanied throughout by family members and a psychiatrist and are taught to try to understand why they hoard, etc. (yes, this is me trying to justify my obsession), maybe it's not that kind at all, I just feel that the production is much better and more considerate to the situation.

It's typically American TV - spoon fed and dramatic, over the top drivel. But for some reason, it doesn't seem as repetitive as most American TV, there isn't a constant reminder of what happened five seconds ago, etc. May be due to the editing, or the use of type on the screen, instead of a narrator, in fact the lack of narrator may be why I can stand it longer than most American TV shows. I'm not really sure.

The other show I love is 'Storage Wars', which is simply a TV crew filming ceased storage units get auctioned and opened. It's bloody brilliant, through and through.

I think my deep down love of these sorts of shows, is that my Grandma is a mild hoarder and believes you can sell anything for something and so does my Dad. My Mother has swum upstream for so long against them and while we were children she pretty much gave up trying, therefore we lived in chaos at times. I was so ashamed for my messy house with filled work surfaces, walk ways, etc. Don't get the wrong idea, my Dad and Grandma aren't full on hoarders, hell no, just occasional kleptomaniacs/Del Boys, but still, what's wrong with a filing system and using cupboards effeciently.

Therefore watching these sorts of shows makes me feel so much better about my family home, which my Mother is now trying to tackle due to being semi retired. Good luck Mum, my thoughts go out to you! At least she can always watch Hoarders to make herself feel better.