There’s nothing like the chaos of a boundary-pushing Channel 4 actuality sequence, and Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing, a show the place folks should stay connected to somebody diametrically against them in each beliefs and life-style, is complete mayhem.
Whether it’s Four in a Bed, Supernanny, Wife Swap or Supersize vs Superskinny, the British broadcaster is synonymous with creating exhibits that served as the blueprint for modern-day reality TV, utilising ‘social experiments’ to show the ‘real’ aspect of humanity. And by ‘real,’ I mean the worst.
Channel 4 began using the term in its Big Brother era as a sort of excuse for putting people through high-stress, often ethically questionable situations. These were justified by claiming the purpose was to reveal the most honest side of these people’s characters or to make a larger sociological point about society. But this mad scientist approach to programming had definitely crumbled over the last few years. Some flopped due to ethical codes of modern society (The Tribe Next Door), but also, due to the standard of reality TV going through the roof with major streamers like Disney+, Peacock and Netflix owning the field with booming franchises, people just showed less interest. Not being able to compete with the high-budget, high-stakes storytelling of Love is Blind, Too Hot to Handle or Real Housewives, it seemed like Channel 4 was going to have to stick to the wholesomeness of the Great British Bake Off and the couch humour of Gogglebox. But then Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing came out.
Colin HUtton/Channel 4
Although I didn’t grow up in the UK, the chaos of Channel 4 reality shows has been following me for years now, thanks to social media. I still can’t escape old clips of racially charged controversies (Big Brother) and people serving overcooked steak on a plank (Come Dine with Me). What is this wacky, wonderful and wrong world all about? Watching recent seasons of Big Brother or new episodes of Dinner Date just doesn’t hit as hard as binging four episodes of Dumped, a Channel 4 show from 2007 that featured contestants living on a rubbish dump in Croydon for three weeks. Like old seasons of America’s Next Top Model, this ‘golden’ period of Channel 4 was problematic but entertaining – the most troublesome mixture that makes the recipe for a excellent guilty pleasure and the final water cooler convo second, AKA viral TV.
At first look, Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing is precisely that. Like all nice tales, its premise is fairly easy: two strangers of opposing views are handcuffed collectively till one in all them decides to smash the emergency key field and free themselves from the state of affairs. They are chained to one another 24/7 whereas dwelling at their respective abodes – working, sleeping, showering and sure, defecating aspect by aspect throughout this era. In truth, the solely time they will request to swap from common handcuffs to ones with an prolonged chain is, as host Jonathan Ross retains reminding us all through the show, when they should go for a quantity two. And as a reward for enduring one another and outlasting the different eight pairings, the last couple wins a prize of £100,000.
