Great British Benefits Handout- CH5 but actually quite good!!

[LeslieB]

It's a show about benefits. On Channel Five. So it's going to be more poverty porn shit, yes? No actually. It's quite good.

The idea behind this is instead of the current drip feed benefits system, families are given a £25,000 lump sum and told to change their lives. They've only shown the first week so far, but all the families seem to have taken some positive steps forward.

Even the analysis by the studio experts seems quite intelligent- they've got one guy who was involved in guarenteed minimum income projects around the globe.

Well worth an hour of your time. And it's on Channel Five. No really, it is..... Episode 1 | The Great British Benefits Handout

 

[Poi E]

Still fetishising the predicament of the less fortunate. Fuck it.

 

[LeslieB]

Still fetishising the predicament of the less fortunate. Fuck it.

Have you actually watched the show in question? I urge you to give it a go. It's nothing at all like Benefits Street etc

 

[nino_savatte]

It's nothing at all like Benefits Street etc

It doesn't matter: it's using the issue of benefits as a source of cheap entertainment. The costs of producing such a programme are small compared to soaps and other, er, quality entertainment. Moreover, it tells us nothing that we didn't already know with regards to poverty. It's voyeurism.

 

[LeslieB]

Same question to you, nino. Have you watched it?

 

[DrRingDing]

Fuck off Leslie

 

[nino_savatte]

Same question to you, nino. Have you watched it?

Irrelevant, but if you get your kicks by watching this kind of entertainment then I feel sorry for you.

 

[LeslieB]

One last try.

This is the chap behind it. Guy Standing Guy Standing (economist) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
and here is some of his work.....
Basic income paid to the poor can transform lives

 

[nino_savatte]

That's all well and good but it changes precisely nothing. It either gets people nodding in agreement or screaming at the telly. Even the programme's title is suspect.

 

[goldenecitrone]

Nobody watches Channel 5 on this board. And especially not if it's got Benefits in the title. So fuck off.

 

[J Ed]

One last try.

This is the chap behind it. Guy Standing Guy Standing (economist) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
and here is some of his work.....
Basic income paid to the poor can transform lives

Wow I had already gleaned that this bloke was a classist bigot but I thought that he was above working with Channel 5.

 

[LeslieB]

Head. Desk. Bang Bang Bang...........

 

[JimW]

Prefer their football league highlights.

 

[NoXion]

Might possibly be a widely-disseminated public demonstration of how no-strings-attached cash does a better job than attempting to micromanage benefits claimants' lives, but given the title and broadcaster I'm dubious.

 

[LeslieB]

Might possibly be a widely-disseminated public demonstration of how no-strings-attached cash does a better job than attempting to micromanage benefits claimants' lives, but given the title and broadcaster I'm dubious.

So was I. I was pleasantly surprised...... so far at least.......

 

[NoXion]

Wow I had already gleaned that this bloke was a classist bigot but I thought that he was above working with Channel 5.

After reading the linked wiki entry and article I'm not really seeing it. Could you elaborate?

 

[J Ed]

After reading the linked wiki entry and article I'm not really seeing it. Could you elaborate?

Have a read over the last page of the basic income thread Basic Income

 

[NoXion]

So was I. I was pleasantly surprised...... so far at least.......

That title though is clearly intended to push buttons, isn't it?

 

[LeslieB]

That title though is clearly intended to push buttons, isn't it?

Yes, it is intended to attract attention and get viewers. Channel 5, after all, is a populist, *commercial* TV channel.

My point, such as I had one, is that this is an interesting experiment and being on Five might help it reach people who would never read an academic paper by Professor Standing, or even an article in the 'Guardian'.

I hope the remaining 5 episodes don't turn into the kind of poverty porn you would expect a programme with this title to be, but so far, so good.

 

[Teenage Cthulhu]

Nobody watches Channel 5 on this board. And especially not if it's got Benefits in the title. So fuck off.

The cop shows are quite good, one is filmed where I used to live and work so it is always good to see the local knackers.

 

[notabanana]

Nobody watches Channel 5 on this board. And especially not if it's got Benefits in the title. So fuck off.

What's wrong with Channel 5?

 

[Greasy Boiler]

I don't care if they have made one ok/maybe-no-so-ok-depending-on-your-view programme about benefits. The channel has spearheaded the hate campaign against anyone on benefits for years. It's going to take more than one gimmicky episode to make me even contemplate adding to their ratings.

 

[pogofish]

It's a show about benefits. On Channel Five.

So why isn't this in the TV Forum?

 

[LeslieB]

So why isn't this in the TV Forum?

Because I naively thought people on here might be interested in it.

 

[LeslieB]

I The channel has spearheaded the hate campaign against anyone on benefits for years.

It has. In 2014 Richard Desmond sold Channel 5 to Viacom (owners of MTV and Spike, among others). This could mark a change in direction, although one swallow certainly does not a summer make.

 

[pogofish]

Because I naively thought people on here might be interested in it.

As a TV prog, maybe but news/current affairs, I very much doubt it.

The novelty/newsworthiness of this type of show faded a long time ago.

 

[brogdale]

Because I naively thought people on here might be interested in it.

Try again when they come up with 'The Great British Banker Hanging'.

 

[pogofish]

Try again when they come up with 'The Great British Banker Hanging'.

Even then, you just know the bankers would only be in it for a percentage!

 

[nino_savatte]

Same question to you, nino. Have you watched it?

Actually, this reply reminds me of Zionists who say "How can you comment on Israel when you've never been there"? I've never been to Saudi Arabia but I know its judicial system is brutal and its royal family head a violent and corrupt government.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

It's a show about benefits. On Channel Five. So it's going to be more poverty porn shit, yes? No actually. It's quite good.

You really are taking the piss here, & make no mistake.