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Live sex and drug-taking bring Dutch reality TV to a new level

Jon Henley
Thursday September 22, 2005
The Guardian


The country that unleashed Big Brother on an unsuspecting world has taken reality television a step further: a late-night talkshow whose presenters will consume drugs and engage in sex acts on air, then discuss their experiences afterwards.
The live Spuiten & Slikken show - which can be translated either as Inject & Swallow or Ejaculate & Swallow - starts on October 10 on the Dutch youth channel BNN, which last upset viewer sensibilities with a programme entitled This is How You Screw.

"We're not setting out to shock, but to inform," said a show producer, Sjoerd van den Broek. "The idea is to treat these subjects like a piece of theatre, to review them if you like. There's been endless idle chat about these matters, but never an adult critique."

Main presenter Filemon Wesselink, 26, is billed to go on a pub crawl, take heroin in the form of a pill, and try LSD at home on the sofa under the watchful eye of his mother. He will also retire into a locked room and try to establish whether oral sex is better from a man or a woman.

Meanwhile, his co-presenter, Ties van Westing, will interview both Wesselink and guests about their sexual and/or narcotic practices. "We just want to explain really clearly what all this stuff actually does to you," Mr Van den Broek said.

News of the show has caused a fuss even in the liberal Netherlands, where marijuana is sold and used openly and red light districts display near-naked prostitutes in shop windows."This is dangerous and sets a bad example," a spokesman for the governing Christian Democrat party told the Associated Press.

A justice ministry spokesman said that parts of the show were "probably illegal", but it was not yet clear whether anyone could be prosecuted.

http://media.guardian.co....08,00.html


So...what do you think? Is it a new high or a new low? If any, what's the limit for what should be shown on tv?

retina said:

New high (in more ways than one).


They should show it all.

P.S. I don't mean to imply that I endorse drug use. I think it's foolish.

any dutch folks who want to send me dvds of this show will get many a great reward....

Ace said:

I wouldn't call it a new high, though I wouldn't call it a new low, either.
But I can say, if it were televised here, I'd watch it.

CarrieMpls said:

Same here. Nothing like a guilty pleasure, eh?

I actually discovered another reality show recently though that - low and behold - didn't feature neither sex nor drugs, nor degrading situations. It's probably been on for years, only I haven't noticed it until now. It was called "Nanny Emergency" or something to that effect and was the Swedish version of a British show where desperate families that are falling apart call a "nanny" (she's pretty much a family therapist) who comes in and helps them get back on track. I'd never let anyone step into my family and decide how I should raise my kids (if I'd had any), but these people volunteer and they mostly seem very, very pleased with the results.

Have you seen this show?

.

retina said:

There are a couple US versions of this. I wasn't sure it would be something I'd really want to watch. Who wants to watch children misbehave for an hour? But the few I've seen are kinda touching. It's all focused on the parenting (as it should be) and its nice to see the small changes that can be made for the families in such a short period of time.

CarrieMpls said:

I love these shows because it makes my own kids seem wonderful by comparison. I have picked up some great tips from supernanny.

retina said:

I saw the British show SuperNanny, but the kids are wild and the parents have no control over them.It always ends up that it is all down to the parents and it is their own fault ,but one little girl was a terror and called her Mum a fat bitch and had such a temper, she was five !

if i got my hands on her

WHEN





WILL






REALITY




TV



GO




AWAY?

Hmm, this surprises me. With the exception of "Neuken Doe Je Zo" (This Is How You Screw), Dutch tv is REALLY tame nowdays. They've really gotten rid of all the porn that was on, and also all of the "reality" sex shows. I'm surprised they're bringing stuff like this back. When I first moved here, over 7 years ago, I was shocked (being American of course ) by all of the sex shows that were on tv here. They really pushed it, and some of the things were really disgusting. And that's saying a lot coming from a person like me.

Any Dutch orgers remember "Sex Voor de Buch"? That show was just crazy. But of course I watched it every week.

CarrieMpls said:

Me. It makes me happy that I'm not in their situation. (I love answering rhetorical questions )




Exactly. Of course it makes me wonder how long it will last after the nanny leaves, but it's still amazing to see their situation change. People can get so incredibly stuck in bad tracks even though a simply change is all it takes to get out of them. One mother on the show was like "oh, you mean I should actually thank my kids when they help out at home?"...

Isn't this just porn?

Nikki23 said:

I've noticed that too. It doesn't seem fair. Some kids can be horrible hellraisers. It's not just a matter of "channeling their energy", as the experts so often claim.

meow85 said:

when


people


stop


watching


it


I


suppose!

The presenter is pretty dishy.

Maybe Bonaduce can make a guest apppearance on there

charlottegelin said:

At least I can't be blamed for it. The only reality TV I've watched was about 5 minutes of Trading Spouses before realizing what it was and changed the channel.