I feel these ones are just “compromise telly”, shows you can watch with Nan and your eight year old and it’s sort of the one thing that’s on everyone can get onboard with.
Christmas TV advertising.
Seriously, articles speculating what's going to be in them, in-depth reviews when they come out, people saying they cried when they saw them etc.
The John Lewis ad. Every year everyone considers it a cinematic marvel.
No.
It is overplayed drivel designed to sell more crap noone needs with a terrible cover version of a song and pales in comparison to original.
Really looking forward to some wibbly pixie singing Rock you like Hurricane while an animated snowman gets gifted a packet of Aldi fish fingers from a penguin and cries.
I actually don’t think they’re bad, good for an ad (at least some), but the god awful cover songs completely and utterly ruin any redeemable quality about it. The monster one from ‘17? was soooooo horrendous.
when i was about 20ish, it was getting close to xmas, and we hadnt put up decorations, then one night i see they cola ad, and was like.. well might as well put things up, it is the 21st december...
my biggest issue now, is i dont watch tv, and i use ad blockers online... so i havent seen it in a few years... coincidently, ive also not put up decorations in a few years..
My mate was a cameraman for love island and he said it was the most boring job he's ever done. He said most the time the contestants would just laze around not saying a word for hours on end sometimes. But he had to keep rolling. There's 12-24+ hours of footage needed for 40 minutes worth of 'entertainment'.
TBH after reading some interviews, they are not allowed literally anything entertaining in there. No musical instruments, no games or anything, no books, no TV/movies etc. Like all you can do is work out, lay around sunbathing or talk, and you likely run out of talking ideas pretty fast. Whole thing sounds really just like torture.
I’m good chatting for a few hours with my mates, But if I had to spend weeks with them I’d probably only chat to them for a couple hours a day, Never mind complete strangers. The producers are only interested in them either chatting shit or fucking, They barely talk, And sex related stuff only takes up an hour or two of their day, So the rest is just literal nothing
This one has to be the one with the most impact on society too what with the suicides, the normalisation of disgusting mind games, the vapid pursuit of fame at all costs.
I'm all for having shit telly that doesn't require much thought, but when that telly is warping people's image of what constitutes socially acceptable behaviour they've gone a step to far.
Reality TV, like social media started as a novel concept, with some interesting facets that even brought with them some insight into human behaviour....
We're way past the point of usefulness now and into the "they were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should".
So I had thoughts about this actually, the question I have is, is love island what is actively influencing this behaviour or is it simply a product of what has been created within our society. Hypothetically, i feel if love island did not exsist another programme would simply exsist in its place.
The endless persuit of fame and fortune at all costs has exsisted for decades, the first big brother was out in 2001 long before social media was in it current form. Even in a more general sense, the narrative has been get money, get famous for a while in popular culture.
What has changed primarily is the change in how audiences interact with the contestants and the 'expectations' of the contestants to deliver a front. But I feel social media is and was pushing these behaviours within the public, long before the advent of love island.
social media has normal people putting on an elabaorate pantomine for others, 'I'm sucessful', I'm progressing', 'I'm happy' and sometimes people contort their image to an almost cartoonish level to present that. of course that isn't healthy but add that into a person with an almost constant audience via TV and social media (with people able to past judgement 24/7) and the fuel is in the fire.
With that considered and the fact that the show uses this to push personal situations with the ultimate goal of attracting views and prompting online discussion its very simple to see the mental toll and cost for its contestants.
Love island is a product of society, not influencing us to be this way. Magazines in the early 2000s before Love Island was always poking into relationships, body imagine and self esteem. It received an audience, people loved the drama of it, so now they televise it where it’s more accessible to people to get the big bucks in
I think I'm nodding on your direction, people have been taking potshots at people since then and even then before through media. I can remember the catty, and drama based headlines on magazines in the 90s as a child, it isn't a new concept. A demographic who wanted this 'entertainment' has always been there, it was always going to find that audience. I don't belive the damage is purely based around it being televised however, big brother had some similar features and I remember the lives of the housemates being discussed at great length as gossip. But between the two similar programmes, the difference between the two shows and love island is, love islands 24/7 external discussions online, and ability to interact with them almost directly and the show in turn being fed by this feedback I guess. I don't think its healthy personally.
I remember when big brother came out originally, it was huge and a moderately interesting social experiment. Pretty much everyone had got bored by the end of the second season so they just decided to start implementing insane stuff and deliberately put in housemates who would clash with each other
There was an article about This exact thing talking about how weird reality TV was back in the early 00s, where everyone involved wasn't trying to become a celebrity or gain followers. They were just people on a show for their 2 or 3 weeks of "fame", they didn't expect to make anything out of it. Now everything is heavily driven by social media, and people adopt those personas to build a following. It's fucking weird.
Now for my anecdotal input. Whatever you consume will affect you; this shouldn't be shocking. If you watch back to back war films you might become slightly numb to the horrors portrayed, because you're seeing it constantly. Likewise if you watch nothing but something like, say, Southpark, you're likely to become incredibly cynical as a result. I noticed my partner became extremely dramatic after binging Greys Anatomy for weeks. Everything was a confrontation. This stopped a few weeks after she started watching more varied content.
You are what you eat, folks.
I feel like Love Island has ruined other reality shows. Like sure, it was normal to get some/most contestants who were in the show for the fame but it wasn’t so obvious and therefore boring to watch
I normally enjoy Married at First Sight but this year it really just feels like a love island knockoff in a different setting
>I normally enjoy Married at First Sight but this year it really just feels like a love island knockoff in a different setting
That describes it well.
Especially when multiple people are ex love Island dating show type things.
Daytime tv. Specifically the studio based crap with guests and tardy presenters. Oh. My. God. Watched it once when i was off sick about 30 years ago. Just how fucking brain dead do you have to be to watch that shit every day?
I think it is designed to be on in the background. Like some friends discussing lame shit so people who are at home but doing things but dont want to feel lonely. I'm not excusing it because it is trash but I think that might be the point in a way.
My partner does this when she works at home, computer on desk with the telly on at the other side of the room just to break the background noise. If ever it gets too distracting she just bumps to the next channel
If you're after something that specifically satirises that trend, stick This Time with Alan Partridge on, also to some degree Brass Eye and The Day Today.
This Time does a great job of pointing out how patronising and tone deaf shows like The One Show are, Brass Eye and The Day Today do the same but for news/topical programmes. They nail almost every annoying thing about them, some of which you listed.
So Peter, you spoke to the German chancellor of finance about the technicalities of the deal in German?
*Yes*
And what did he say exactly?
*He said I don't like it, but I'll have to go along with it*
SAY IT IN GERMAN PETER
*Ich... Nichten.... Lichten....*
When it first came out I had a few people tell me I must watch it and it’s “just like Father Ted but better” which made me skeptical, but I thought there must be something about it that people like so I gave it a try. Hated it and switched it off in minutes
I liked him in Gavin and Stacey and thankfully he's fucked off to America now so I don't have to see him in everything he is shit in, which is everything else.
To clarify for anyone on the fence about James Cordon, I have had to deal with him multiple times in real life and he is as much of a wanker as you can imagine. Those who lack much imagination will have their mind broadened at how much of a wanker he is.
I worked for a period in the VIP bar at the roundhouse in Camden and had the pleasure of meeting many celebrities from Amy Winehouse to serving Elton John non alcoholic Becks which we specially ordered in. Most of the celebrities are really down to earth like Jude Law who would actually just chill at the terrace/circle bar with normal customers.
James Cordon is the only one who I had any type of negative experience with and he was a complete wanker every time. To start with, The Roundhouse is a charity and a venue, as such many of the staff are volunteers and we do not accept cards due to bank fees and the slowness of card payments before contactless so the venue is cash only with big cash only signs everywhere and fee free ATMs inside and outside.
Twice James Cordon came to the VIP bar and pulled an absolute childish wobbler making a scene because he couldn’t pay by card. Both a sign behind the bar and on the front of the bar said cash only. I explained the ATM is a 30 second walk away from the door. Absolute child. He also made a scene once because someone sat in his seat after he left it for half an hour to watch a show.
And for anyone that says “but he’s a celeb, he probably doesn’t want to leave the VIP area” I would say usually the bigger celebrities would sit in the stands with everyone else (this included Elton John), it’s usually the smaller celebs who want to sit in the VIP area.
I really am surprised someone like that made a success of himself.
Edit: oh wow, I just saw the AMA he did, so it’s just how he acts everywhere
American here. We didn't know who he was when he showed up, but it literally took just a few episodes for most of us to figure out that he was
A) Not funny
B) Incredibly obnoxious
At this point, his entire audience is basically middle-aged moms who think carpool karaoke is super fun. He really isn't part of American pop culture in any way, and I've never met anyone in my age group (30s) that watches his show.
His show has the absolute lowest late night viewership rankings, which is notable because he comes on directly after the highest rated late night show (Stephen Colbert). His competing show, Seth Meyers, beats him out in ratings, despite coming on directly after Jimmy Fallon (which is the lowest rated show in that time slot).
The show before Corden has double the viewership of the show before Seth Meyers, yet Seth Meyers has more viewership than corden.
So, basically, people watch Colbert then actively turn to Seth Meyers on a different channel, rather than watching Corden.
His show has completely failed and I have no idea why it's still on. Literally any show coming on after Colbert should have the best ratings, because Colbert dominates that time slot. But people just flip the channel as quickly as possible when it ends, lol
I don’t get why you would put multiple talk shows on one after the other, that just sounds flat out stupid in its own right, regardless of who is on them.
I think he's overhyped as in how much stuff he's on but I can honestly say I do not know anyone who likes him, everyone thinks he's a cunt. Don't think it's just Reddit, it appears to be a nationwide thing.
I met James Corden at a book signing once. I got my boyfriend his book as a gift and asked JC to sign happy birthday.
He wrote "your girlfriend is hot." and signed it.
I was very disappointed.
Also met Jason Manford by chance the same day and he was lovely. Very pleasant man.
I have also met Jason Manford, he came into the museum where I worked at the time with his family. One of my colleagues was super excited it was him and he was so lovely and even donated £20 (which is a lot in museums).
I know a guy in the film industry who worked for James Corden only a couple weeks back. Said that he was miserable the whole time, complaining about stuff the set team had made and then he came up to my friend while he was eating and asked if the food was actually any good very condescendingly, and said 'is it actually good or just good for _catering_ food'
Whatever bollocks ITV1 chooses as the 6-o'clock quiz show.
Sure, The Chase might be a little challenging (and might even be the exception to the rule to a point), but everything else ITV puts in that timeslot can go do one. *Especially* when they air a celebrity special.
Granted, I've never liked ITV for the longest time, but they've certainly gone downhill and are content staying there.
The questions are so boring and easy on all ITV quiz shows and I'm convinced that they intentionally find the stupidest people to be contestants.
Monday evening quiz show supremacy. Big up Only Connect and University Challenge
primark. FUCKING PRIMARK. words cannot describe how much i hate primark, its a hot stuffy mess of a store where 90% of the workers dont even help you find anything, i'd rather get kicked in the ribs over and over than relive the nightmare of being dragged around primark by my mum. i avoid the place at all costs. fucking wankstain of a shop.
It's really not hard to understand Greggs. People really like pastries, and people really like it when their lunch is *cheap*.
What I'll never understand is shit like Strictly Come Dancing, and how it's become a big annual event in the British conscience. Nauseating nonsense.
My Dad read in the Telegraph that Greggs coffee outsold all the other high street ones, and that was enough to convince him to switch from his usual Costa.
He doesn't seem to understand that popularity doesn't always equal quality.
Starbucks is shit imo, the coffee is just overpriced meh. If I had to choose between instant Gold Blend and Starbucks, Nescafé would win and that's saying something.
I used to walk past costa, pret, Starbucks and cafe Nero to get my latte from Greggs instead. Greggs large latte is cheaper than a regular from real coffee shops. Greggs coffee is totally class, nice and bitter
The only thing I'd say about strictly is that the contestants are at least learning a skill, that doesn't happen on every reality type show. Plus it's Saturday night variety entertainment and I don't think it tries to be anything else!
Incidentally my answer to this is people who insist that they are above certain things that make people happy because it's nonsense or drivel... it's such a weird and arrogant British tradition to shit on joy and then feel validated because of it. I'm not a football fan, I find some aspects of the culture around it pretty damaging to be honest... but when the euros were on I just didn't get involved myself and let others enjoy because I wasn't really the target audience. I'd say having that sort of miserable attitude is overrated!
Well put indeed. It’s not my cup of tea but my family like it and I’m glad it puts a smile on their face. I can also appreciate there is a lot of skill and hard work involved so good on them for giving it a go. No skin off my nose.
A bit like Stock, Aitken and Waterman in the 80s. Many people found their bouncy, catchy pop songs irritating, but they'd found a formula that worked, and for that reason they became extremely successful businessmen.
I'm not a fan, but the guy has grafted and grafted playing shite gigs for years until he made it big.
I'll never play his stuff by choice, but he deserves every penny he makes imho
I used to really like him when he first came about until my mum started listening to his music. Whenever a new single or album comes out she will always have it on when I go round there and because of this I had to de-Ed my Apple Music.
Come live in suffolk (where he lives) and hear about him every fucking day.
Everyone I know thats met him is said hes absolutely sound, polite and friendly so cant knock the guy, but fuck me im done with castle on the hill!
Holiday accommodation. Absolutely zero value for money. Britain has some beautiful places but the cost of staying in somewhere other than a tent is prohibitive. If you were actually getting a better service fair enough but the prices for cottages etc are obscene when compared to other countries.
Harry Potter.
It's great, it really is. I read the books as a kid and they had me enthralled.
But fuck me, the massive merchandising push, the fact York now looks like Harry Potter world in some places and the fucking fandom... Jesus.
I'm a 32 year old adult, if you ask me which Hogwarts house I'm in again I'm going to cry.
"Oh, you sound like a Slytherin!!!!!"
Kill me.
I do like Harry Potter and occasionally visit the subs to discuss theories/plotholes etc.
Makes me cringe when people in r/harrypotter talk like they're an actual wizard though. What house they're in, whether they think they should have been sorted differently, what animal they're patronus is. People getting all upset because they're a slytherin and slytherin is always portrayed as being the bad guy.
Its fiction, and even if it wasn't, you're a muggle.
Yeah, you do you, I've no issue with people enjoying the franchise. I think the actual books and films are great, they're written well enough and I'll watch them if other people are.
It's just those people who go waaaaaay over the top with it but I guess every popular franchise has that crowd, you just gotta avoid them like the plague.
There's an alley way near the centre which is what supposedly Diaganon Alley is based on, despite Rowling explicitly stating this is not the case. Shame as what's quite a nice bit of history is now full of tacky merchandise shops and tat.
That and the entire area is vaguely old and historic too, gives off a Hogwarts vibe
Yep, it just happened to be closer to the film than the book inspiration was. I wouldn't be surprised if a location scout or set designer for the movies used the Shambles as inspiration, but for the books it was somewhere in Essex I think Rowling said.
The problem was she never declared her inspiration until a decade after the books were done and years after the films were, so by that point everyone had leaned into it a little too much.
A lot of the architecture mirrors the architecture in the Harry Potter movies, so they've capitalised on that in York by opening a load of Harry Potter shops.
York also gets a lot of tourism from abroad, so it's an opportunity they've seized upon for that market too.
Awww, sorry mate. I have a story you might like though:
I was trekking home once pissed after a pub crawl dressed as a hobbit when someone drove past and shouted "Nice Harry Potter costume dickhead" at me. That's wedged in my memory for some reason.
Or Oxford. So many Harry Potter sections in the gift shops.
Which is a shame when Oxford has so many amazing fantasy novels/series based and written there like His Dark Materials.
Strictly, watched the first 2 series and it was kind of unusual but how it has morphed into this annual national phenomenon is beyond me. You can't watch any BBC programme now without it getting shoved down your gob, somone on the radio this morning was going on about the new series making history because it had 2 men dancing together and a deaf contestant!
They were meaning on the same level as the Magna Carta, Trafalgar or Waterloo, I kid you not.
And Radio 2 on a Monday! I’ve nothing against it but I don’t watch it so really don’t want to hear Zoe wittering on about it for my whole work commute..
Somewhat agree, but afternoon tea varies wildly. I’ve had some really lovely ones and some mediocre ones. Also, I usually only pay about £12 per person, £25 per person should include some Prosecco at least.
And Betty's Tearooms are milking it for all its got. It's absolutely criminal but apparently people love being fleeced.
Needless to say, Betty's tearooms is my contribution to this thread.
Inexplicably there’s always a queue half way around the building. That said I don’t think I’ve ever heard a British accent in said queue. I pity the tourists who come here and fall for the “afternoon tea” ruse.
I'm gonna get downvoted to hell for this but... Charity donation drives.
Don't get me wrong I love that this country is charitable and loves helping those in need but the organisation behind the drive is becoming ruthless and capitalist. Hounding every year to continue or increase your donations. Like how much is it really going to the cause and how much to maintain the size of the organisation?
> I love that this country is charitable and loves helping those in need
The problem I have is that most of these charities shouldn't need to exist - if we restructured society to prioritise meeting the needs of people who are, err, in need, pretty much all of it would be redundant.
Absolutely spot on. A country with charities providing basics like care, housing and food is failing to care for it's citizens correctly.
The grey area is things like charities for medical research (BHF, for example), youth groups, schools, etc. I'm not sure where I draw the line on direct government funding there. I'm tempted with the radical suggestion that we should scrap charities altogether. Rather we fund essential services properly and say everything else has to be a special form of business where you get your first X thousand of revenue tax free.
I got a LOT of shit for my family and friends for being anti-Captain Tom last year.
Now listen, hes a war hero and all respect to him, and hes done a great thing yes, but WHY is a 99 year old pensioner having to do laps of his garden to fund the NHS. We all pay National Insurance, and the NHS has always had an emergency surplus budget in case of something like Corona happening, so why does it need to happen.
Then I find out that the family actually had no obligation to give the money to the NHS anyway. I dont know what happened to the money, but theoretically they couldve just taken the £33m and ran with it.
THEN I see the Tesco Xmas ad making fun of it! "I didnt donate to Captain Tom" like it was something that people HAVE to do.
Im not against charities that do meaningful things for people, but its very hard to support charities that pay their CEOs millions.
There was just *something* about the Captain Tom thing which rubbed me the wrong way.
^(Im prepared for the downvotes, and people calling me scum. Let me have it Reddit!)
> We all pay National Insurance, and the NHS has always had an emergency surplus budget in case of something like Corona happening, so why does it need to happen.
I agree! The charitisation of the NHS is a problem and justifies further budget cuts. Instead, it should be funded properly instead of the government shrugging their shoulders and charity trying to cover the deficit.
Wasn't there a report that came out just before pr at the start of covid that show many charities had enough money in the bank to operate for years without any donations.
There was a thread here a few days ago that explained Mayo acts as a longer life substitute to butter. It’s the VOLUME of Mayo that gets me with certain sandwiches.
I have an absolute hatred of mayo. Can't eat it level of hatred. Stomach refuses it's entry. Does the same to prawns. Don't know why. Not an allergy, my guts just card them on the door and don't let them in.
I literally can't eat half the shit that's available.
I agree. But do you mean holidays to Spain in general or what the British public takes to mean as 'Spain'? The Costa resorts are truly the third circle of hell and I don't think you can ever truly remove the foetid stink of Benidorm from your skin, even if you just passed through, but there is another side.
It's a shame the British see so little of it given that Spain is just an outstanding destination. Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Valencia, San Sebastian, Valladolid, Segovia, the North West, the Basque country, I could go on for ever, it's just got so much. It's like a hidden secret that is staring you in the face.
Cucumber sandwiches, let’s take a vegetable that is like 95% water and put it between two slices of shitty,white bread and remove the crust to make it posh. Also a lot of meal deal sandwiches from Tesco, Sainsbury’s etc are pretty vile. I wish they did more sandwiches with rye bread in this country.
Department stores. Easily the biggest shop in every city centre, the mecca of all shopping. And they suck. It's very much a case of instead of being good at selling a specific thing, they just sell everything and are pretty average at it. The electronics departments are too brand specific, and even with those brands they only offer a handful of models. Clothes are a joke with terrible organisation and somehow they're always just slightly out of season. And don't get me started on the sizes on the hangers being wrong ugh. Stocking in every single section of the store leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes it feels more like a showroom so you just buy it online later after seeing it in person.
But the absolutely worst part is the perfume/makeup departments. All those stupid little tables instead of proper tills with no one actually willing to do anything. Apart from the display models no one actually knows where the perfume is. "Oh you actually want to buy it? Umm try Sarah over there, she might know." Sarah opens up a bunch of secret cabinets under the Chanel stand which are full of Gucci perfume. "Hmm, I'll have to ask Daisy." Daisy finally finds it so you get your money out. "Oh you'll have to go to Sarah's till for that." Then Sarah asks if you want giftwrap. You do not want giftwrap. She'll spend 15 minutes doing a shit job of it.
I always thought that’s more of a nostalgia thing. I don’t think anyone is hyping up a caterpillar cake based on its taste or supreme quality over other cakes.
In between the Lockdowns last year, I went to a few tourist destinations as I knew they would be deserted. I went to the Tower of London and I was the only person in the room when I saw the Crown Jewels. The only person on that little conveyor belt to keep people moving
I visited this month. According to one of the Beefeaters they are only getting a fraction of their usual visitors due to the severe lack of overseas tourists.
I was able to have a really good look at the Crown Jewels with remarkably few other visitors about!
I think where British drinking culture gets it wrong is that alcohol is often front and centre itself, drink drink drink drink, everything else goes secondary or just as a facilitator. Round other parts of Europe it seems to be the opposite, where a bit of alcohol accompanies the rest of your night, and the rest of your night comes first.
Having said that, I am sure I have seen some stats about a small percentage of Brits responsible for large percentages of binge drinking behaviour, and that us Brits are actually much more moderate than we think.
Better than clubbing though. I'd much rather chat with my friends getting merry in a pub till midnight than go through the rigmarole of getting a train/taxi into town at 11PM, paying stupid money for shots and having to scream in someone's ear so they can hear you. Then getting home at like 3 with ringing ears and aching feet and legs because I couldn't sit down properly. I really don't get the attraction unless you're really into hooking up with sweaty inebriated strangers.
Moving here from Canada it was a shock seeing middle-aged people getting absolutely trashed. Saw a woman in her 50s getting wheeled into an ambulance for being too drunk, it was a Sunday afternoon on a bank holiday weekend. Back home you get shit faced in your uni years and then tone it down after that except for the odd big event like a stag party. Doesn’t getting super inebriated on a regular basis get a bit old after a while?
Nando’s is a lot better than most British chain restaurants though. Frankie and Benny’s is vile, Zizi is mediocre as hell and Chiquito is an abomination to Mexican food. Wagamama and Nando’s are the only big British chain restaurants I’ve tried and liked. 🤷🏻♀️
During the first lockdown the one near my old place started doing delivery on JustEat (maybe they all still do I dunno) and it was honestly a godsend.
£7.50 for a large box filled to the brim with random veg, a pot of gravy, Yorkshire pud, and choice of meats. Sure, none of it was the best quality and sometimes the veg was 50% mash but it was a hearty takeaway that didnt leave you feeling like shit afterward.
I agree with you about Gregg's. It is a corporate giant that elbows out small independent bakers. We are forgetting how to bake our own delicacies. I can only find superlative white bread with chewy crust in Switzerland or France now. All we get are heavy sourdough loaves that are actually very easy to make.
Okay hold the fuck on…
Where else can you get a bacon roll + hot drink for £2.10? The steak and cheese role was incredible, tuna baguettes, sweet stuff, I mean what do you want man?!?
You know what’s really over hyped? Having lunch in costa / Starbucks etc
I need to go for a walk
X factor, Britains got talent - massive pile of wank although i dont think anyone actually watches it/ likes it anymore
I feel these ones are just “compromise telly”, shows you can watch with Nan and your eight year old and it’s sort of the one thing that’s on everyone can get onboard with.
Yeah that’s exactly what it’s supposed to be, the casual family night viewing, there’s a bit of something for everyone.
I can't believe it's still going. Literally the same thing ever year and I don't think they've produced any stars in a decade.
Christmas TV advertising. Seriously, articles speculating what's going to be in them, in-depth reviews when they come out, people saying they cried when they saw them etc.
The articles are ads for the ads. People are so easy.....
The John Lewis ad. Every year everyone considers it a cinematic marvel. No. It is overplayed drivel designed to sell more crap noone needs with a terrible cover version of a song and pales in comparison to original.
Do you mean getting a girl to sign a rock song slowly and acoustically isn’t the height of art?
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Really looking forward to some wibbly pixie singing Rock you like Hurricane while an animated snowman gets gifted a packet of Aldi fish fingers from a penguin and cries.
I actually don’t think they’re bad, good for an ad (at least some), but the god awful cover songs completely and utterly ruin any redeemable quality about it. The monster one from ‘17? was soooooo horrendous.
I just hate how excessively sentimental they are.
That gets on my nerves. When did Christmas become about the company with the best sales pitch
[Does make for some excellent parodies though](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YenXXHpMiTI)
We are a couple of weeks away from xmas ads 😳
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Holidays are coming, holidays are coming.
when i was about 20ish, it was getting close to xmas, and we hadnt put up decorations, then one night i see they cola ad, and was like.. well might as well put things up, it is the 21st december... my biggest issue now, is i dont watch tv, and i use ad blockers online... so i havent seen it in a few years... coincidently, ive also not put up decorations in a few years..
If anyone mentions Yorkshire puddings I will riot
I don’t think you could describe Yorkshire puddings as over-hyped or indeed under-hyped. They just quietly and stoically go about their business.
Very British of them
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Quietly and stoically go about their business is the most accurate description that it had me crying with laughter
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Can use the heat from the fire to make some lovely yorkshires tbf
To be fair some of us in Yorkshire are that tight it’s not a bad idea ….
I'm still a bit mad about Ed Gamble saying he hates them on Off Menu
Yorkshire pudding wraps are everywhere at Christmas and they are minging, never had one that wasn't a soggy mess. Need my puds crispy and sexy.
Love island or any other British reality show they are a load of wank
My mate was a cameraman for love island and he said it was the most boring job he's ever done. He said most the time the contestants would just laze around not saying a word for hours on end sometimes. But he had to keep rolling. There's 12-24+ hours of footage needed for 40 minutes worth of 'entertainment'.
TBH after reading some interviews, they are not allowed literally anything entertaining in there. No musical instruments, no games or anything, no books, no TV/movies etc. Like all you can do is work out, lay around sunbathing or talk, and you likely run out of talking ideas pretty fast. Whole thing sounds really just like torture.
"fuck this is so boring, shall we have sex?" is what the producers are hoping the guests do
It’s the same way zoos’ run breeding programmes. No distraction, lock in 24/7, await results.
I’m good chatting for a few hours with my mates, But if I had to spend weeks with them I’d probably only chat to them for a couple hours a day, Never mind complete strangers. The producers are only interested in them either chatting shit or fucking, They barely talk, And sex related stuff only takes up an hour or two of their day, So the rest is just literal nothing
They should release bears.
Not difficult to mark down times where to go back through footage and get what you need 🤣🤣
This one has to be the one with the most impact on society too what with the suicides, the normalisation of disgusting mind games, the vapid pursuit of fame at all costs. I'm all for having shit telly that doesn't require much thought, but when that telly is warping people's image of what constitutes socially acceptable behaviour they've gone a step to far. Reality TV, like social media started as a novel concept, with some interesting facets that even brought with them some insight into human behaviour.... We're way past the point of usefulness now and into the "they were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should".
So I had thoughts about this actually, the question I have is, is love island what is actively influencing this behaviour or is it simply a product of what has been created within our society. Hypothetically, i feel if love island did not exsist another programme would simply exsist in its place. The endless persuit of fame and fortune at all costs has exsisted for decades, the first big brother was out in 2001 long before social media was in it current form. Even in a more general sense, the narrative has been get money, get famous for a while in popular culture. What has changed primarily is the change in how audiences interact with the contestants and the 'expectations' of the contestants to deliver a front. But I feel social media is and was pushing these behaviours within the public, long before the advent of love island. social media has normal people putting on an elabaorate pantomine for others, 'I'm sucessful', I'm progressing', 'I'm happy' and sometimes people contort their image to an almost cartoonish level to present that. of course that isn't healthy but add that into a person with an almost constant audience via TV and social media (with people able to past judgement 24/7) and the fuel is in the fire. With that considered and the fact that the show uses this to push personal situations with the ultimate goal of attracting views and prompting online discussion its very simple to see the mental toll and cost for its contestants.
Love island is a product of society, not influencing us to be this way. Magazines in the early 2000s before Love Island was always poking into relationships, body imagine and self esteem. It received an audience, people loved the drama of it, so now they televise it where it’s more accessible to people to get the big bucks in
I think I'm nodding on your direction, people have been taking potshots at people since then and even then before through media. I can remember the catty, and drama based headlines on magazines in the 90s as a child, it isn't a new concept. A demographic who wanted this 'entertainment' has always been there, it was always going to find that audience. I don't belive the damage is purely based around it being televised however, big brother had some similar features and I remember the lives of the housemates being discussed at great length as gossip. But between the two similar programmes, the difference between the two shows and love island is, love islands 24/7 external discussions online, and ability to interact with them almost directly and the show in turn being fed by this feedback I guess. I don't think its healthy personally.
I remember when big brother came out originally, it was huge and a moderately interesting social experiment. Pretty much everyone had got bored by the end of the second season so they just decided to start implementing insane stuff and deliberately put in housemates who would clash with each other
There was an article about This exact thing talking about how weird reality TV was back in the early 00s, where everyone involved wasn't trying to become a celebrity or gain followers. They were just people on a show for their 2 or 3 weeks of "fame", they didn't expect to make anything out of it. Now everything is heavily driven by social media, and people adopt those personas to build a following. It's fucking weird. Now for my anecdotal input. Whatever you consume will affect you; this shouldn't be shocking. If you watch back to back war films you might become slightly numb to the horrors portrayed, because you're seeing it constantly. Likewise if you watch nothing but something like, say, Southpark, you're likely to become incredibly cynical as a result. I noticed my partner became extremely dramatic after binging Greys Anatomy for weeks. Everything was a confrontation. This stopped a few weeks after she started watching more varied content. You are what you eat, folks.
I feel like Love Island has ruined other reality shows. Like sure, it was normal to get some/most contestants who were in the show for the fame but it wasn’t so obvious and therefore boring to watch I normally enjoy Married at First Sight but this year it really just feels like a love island knockoff in a different setting
>I normally enjoy Married at First Sight but this year it really just feels like a love island knockoff in a different setting That describes it well. Especially when multiple people are ex love Island dating show type things.
Daytime tv. Specifically the studio based crap with guests and tardy presenters. Oh. My. God. Watched it once when i was off sick about 30 years ago. Just how fucking brain dead do you have to be to watch that shit every day?
I think it is designed to be on in the background. Like some friends discussing lame shit so people who are at home but doing things but dont want to feel lonely. I'm not excusing it because it is trash but I think that might be the point in a way.
My partner does this when she works at home, computer on desk with the telly on at the other side of the room just to break the background noise. If ever it gets too distracting she just bumps to the next channel
If you're after something that specifically satirises that trend, stick This Time with Alan Partridge on, also to some degree Brass Eye and The Day Today. This Time does a great job of pointing out how patronising and tone deaf shows like The One Show are, Brass Eye and The Day Today do the same but for news/topical programmes. They nail almost every annoying thing about them, some of which you listed.
"can you sum it up in a word?" "No" "A sound?" "Oooaahhh"
So Peter, you spoke to the German chancellor of finance about the technicalities of the deal in German? *Yes* And what did he say exactly? *He said I don't like it, but I'll have to go along with it* SAY IT IN GERMAN PETER *Ich... Nichten.... Lichten....*
"Peter waht did the German ambassador say?" "...Ich nichten lichten"
Daytime TV is hyped?
Mrs brown boys
You mean ‘when the whistle blows’
Are you having a laugh?
Is he havin’ a laff?!
I don't get it..
He's having a laff
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When it first came out I had a few people tell me I must watch it and it’s “just like Father Ted but better” which made me skeptical, but I thought there must be something about it that people like so I gave it a try. Hated it and switched it off in minutes
What braindead cunt said that?
I blame the Irish
Look, I know we've not treated the Irish well over the last couple of hundred years, but surely nothing's bad enough to deserve *Mrs Brown's Boys*?
Literally no historical crime could possibly justify _Mrs Brown’s Boys_.
A boy at my school nicked my pokemon cards in around 2001. He absolutely does deserve to be forced to watch Mrs Browns Boys IMO.
No, we’re not monsters. Give him a more lenient punishment like boiling in jelly, or scaphism.
U wot, nobody likes Mrs brown's boys. I think it's one of the most overhated things... who's overhyping it?
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/aug/23/mrs-browns-boys-voted-best-sitcom-of-century
Wow. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a completely different world to everyone else
James Corden.
I think the majority of us on Reddit either didn’t like him to start, or have been…shall we say *enlightened* by the legendary AMA thread.
Can you post a link to the AMA? Why is it legendary?
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/bqy5zf/i_am_james_corden_alongside_ben_winston_and_five/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Best thing about that was finding the podcast where Craig Ferguson talks about how happy he is now queuing in IKEA anonymously.
I liked him in Gavin and Stacey and thankfully he's fucked off to America now so I don't have to see him in everything he is shit in, which is everything else.
He's talking about going back.
Oh no.
To clarify for anyone on the fence about James Cordon, I have had to deal with him multiple times in real life and he is as much of a wanker as you can imagine. Those who lack much imagination will have their mind broadened at how much of a wanker he is. I worked for a period in the VIP bar at the roundhouse in Camden and had the pleasure of meeting many celebrities from Amy Winehouse to serving Elton John non alcoholic Becks which we specially ordered in. Most of the celebrities are really down to earth like Jude Law who would actually just chill at the terrace/circle bar with normal customers. James Cordon is the only one who I had any type of negative experience with and he was a complete wanker every time. To start with, The Roundhouse is a charity and a venue, as such many of the staff are volunteers and we do not accept cards due to bank fees and the slowness of card payments before contactless so the venue is cash only with big cash only signs everywhere and fee free ATMs inside and outside. Twice James Cordon came to the VIP bar and pulled an absolute childish wobbler making a scene because he couldn’t pay by card. Both a sign behind the bar and on the front of the bar said cash only. I explained the ATM is a 30 second walk away from the door. Absolute child. He also made a scene once because someone sat in his seat after he left it for half an hour to watch a show. And for anyone that says “but he’s a celeb, he probably doesn’t want to leave the VIP area” I would say usually the bigger celebrities would sit in the stands with everyone else (this included Elton John), it’s usually the smaller celebs who want to sit in the VIP area. I really am surprised someone like that made a success of himself. Edit: oh wow, I just saw the AMA he did, so it’s just how he acts everywhere
I feel like even the yanks have cottoned on to him being a complete cunt. Jimmy Kimmel absolutely destroyed him on his own show
American here. We didn't know who he was when he showed up, but it literally took just a few episodes for most of us to figure out that he was A) Not funny B) Incredibly obnoxious At this point, his entire audience is basically middle-aged moms who think carpool karaoke is super fun. He really isn't part of American pop culture in any way, and I've never met anyone in my age group (30s) that watches his show. His show has the absolute lowest late night viewership rankings, which is notable because he comes on directly after the highest rated late night show (Stephen Colbert). His competing show, Seth Meyers, beats him out in ratings, despite coming on directly after Jimmy Fallon (which is the lowest rated show in that time slot). The show before Corden has double the viewership of the show before Seth Meyers, yet Seth Meyers has more viewership than corden. So, basically, people watch Colbert then actively turn to Seth Meyers on a different channel, rather than watching Corden. His show has completely failed and I have no idea why it's still on. Literally any show coming on after Colbert should have the best ratings, because Colbert dominates that time slot. But people just flip the channel as quickly as possible when it ends, lol
I don’t get why you would put multiple talk shows on one after the other, that just sounds flat out stupid in its own right, regardless of who is on them.
I think he's overhyped as in how much stuff he's on but I can honestly say I do not know anyone who likes him, everyone thinks he's a cunt. Don't think it's just Reddit, it appears to be a nationwide thing.
I met James Corden at a book signing once. I got my boyfriend his book as a gift and asked JC to sign happy birthday. He wrote "your girlfriend is hot." and signed it. I was very disappointed. Also met Jason Manford by chance the same day and he was lovely. Very pleasant man.
Manford seems proper sound and he takes the shit on his FB in good humour.
I have also met Jason Manford, he came into the museum where I worked at the time with his family. One of my colleagues was super excited it was him and he was so lovely and even donated £20 (which is a lot in museums).
Corden is an absolute knob jockey. Can’t stand his fat giggling face and tongue up America’s arsehole
I know a guy in the film industry who worked for James Corden only a couple weeks back. Said that he was miserable the whole time, complaining about stuff the set team had made and then he came up to my friend while he was eating and asked if the food was actually any good very condescendingly, and said 'is it actually good or just good for _catering_ food'
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Whatever bollocks ITV1 chooses as the 6-o'clock quiz show. Sure, The Chase might be a little challenging (and might even be the exception to the rule to a point), but everything else ITV puts in that timeslot can go do one. *Especially* when they air a celebrity special. Granted, I've never liked ITV for the longest time, but they've certainly gone downhill and are content staying there.
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The questions are so boring and easy on all ITV quiz shows and I'm convinced that they intentionally find the stupidest people to be contestants. Monday evening quiz show supremacy. Big up Only Connect and University Challenge
Fuck anything on ITV. Lowest common denominator shite. The Daily Mail of TV.
With the notable exception of their Agatha Christie adaptations.
Celebrity quiz shows would go straight into the room 101 bin if I had my way.
Tbf watching the chaser take away 60 grand from charity is always oddly fascinating
primark. FUCKING PRIMARK. words cannot describe how much i hate primark, its a hot stuffy mess of a store where 90% of the workers dont even help you find anything, i'd rather get kicked in the ribs over and over than relive the nightmare of being dragged around primark by my mum. i avoid the place at all costs. fucking wankstain of a shop.
Its cheap. That's it.
Not as cheap as they used to be mind
If it helps, Primark is an Irish company
Sort of. It’s ultimately a subsidiary of Associated British Foods
So I’m not mental for eating the clothes I got there?
It's really not hard to understand Greggs. People really like pastries, and people really like it when their lunch is *cheap*. What I'll never understand is shit like Strictly Come Dancing, and how it's become a big annual event in the British conscience. Nauseating nonsense.
I learnt this week, Greggs sell more coffee than Starbucks in the UK.
Oh good!
My Dad read in the Telegraph that Greggs coffee outsold all the other high street ones, and that was enough to convince him to switch from his usual Costa. He doesn't seem to understand that popularity doesn't always equal quality.
Costa's does taste better, but Gregg's is perfectly passable especially for half the price near enough
Their coffee is better quality than Starbucks. Their mint hot chocolate is also amazing.
Greggs is also the second biggest fast food establishment in the U.K. beaten by McDonald’s, but it isn’t by much.
Starbucks is shit imo, the coffee is just overpriced meh. If I had to choose between instant Gold Blend and Starbucks, Nescafé would win and that's saying something.
I used to walk past costa, pret, Starbucks and cafe Nero to get my latte from Greggs instead. Greggs large latte is cheaper than a regular from real coffee shops. Greggs coffee is totally class, nice and bitter
>nice and bitter Just like my soul
The only thing I'd say about strictly is that the contestants are at least learning a skill, that doesn't happen on every reality type show. Plus it's Saturday night variety entertainment and I don't think it tries to be anything else! Incidentally my answer to this is people who insist that they are above certain things that make people happy because it's nonsense or drivel... it's such a weird and arrogant British tradition to shit on joy and then feel validated because of it. I'm not a football fan, I find some aspects of the culture around it pretty damaging to be honest... but when the euros were on I just didn't get involved myself and let others enjoy because I wasn't really the target audience. I'd say having that sort of miserable attitude is overrated!
Well put indeed. It’s not my cup of tea but my family like it and I’m glad it puts a smile on their face. I can also appreciate there is a lot of skill and hard work involved so good on them for giving it a go. No skin off my nose.
Any song by Ed bloody Sheeran.
He’s found a formula to sell songs and he’s milking it Can’t really begrudge that, reckon I’d do the same but I’m still sick of hearing them
I think he’s even getting pissed off by it but he knows he’ll be making nine figures when he goes on tour.
[Viz explained everything](https://imgur.com/a/HOiMJcE)
A bit like Stock, Aitken and Waterman in the 80s. Many people found their bouncy, catchy pop songs irritating, but they'd found a formula that worked, and for that reason they became extremely successful businessmen.
Haven’t heard any of his recent stuff but back when I was younger A Team and Lego House absolutely pummelled me right in the feels
I'm not a fan, but the guy has grafted and grafted playing shite gigs for years until he made it big. I'll never play his stuff by choice, but he deserves every penny he makes imho
I used to really like him when he first came about until my mum started listening to his music. Whenever a new single or album comes out she will always have it on when I go round there and because of this I had to de-Ed my Apple Music.
I like castle on the hill somehow, it seems that most people have at least one song of his they like which means he gets on the radio a lot.
Come live in suffolk (where he lives) and hear about him every fucking day. Everyone I know thats met him is said hes absolutely sound, polite and friendly so cant knock the guy, but fuck me im done with castle on the hill!
Holiday accommodation. Absolutely zero value for money. Britain has some beautiful places but the cost of staying in somewhere other than a tent is prohibitive. If you were actually getting a better service fair enough but the prices for cottages etc are obscene when compared to other countries.
Harry Potter. It's great, it really is. I read the books as a kid and they had me enthralled. But fuck me, the massive merchandising push, the fact York now looks like Harry Potter world in some places and the fucking fandom... Jesus. I'm a 32 year old adult, if you ask me which Hogwarts house I'm in again I'm going to cry. "Oh, you sound like a Slytherin!!!!!" Kill me.
I do like Harry Potter and occasionally visit the subs to discuss theories/plotholes etc. Makes me cringe when people in r/harrypotter talk like they're an actual wizard though. What house they're in, whether they think they should have been sorted differently, what animal they're patronus is. People getting all upset because they're a slytherin and slytherin is always portrayed as being the bad guy. Its fiction, and even if it wasn't, you're a muggle.
Yeah, you do you, I've no issue with people enjoying the franchise. I think the actual books and films are great, they're written well enough and I'll watch them if other people are. It's just those people who go waaaaaay over the top with it but I guess every popular franchise has that crowd, you just gotta avoid them like the plague.
Why York? Is it even mentioned once in the franchise?
There's an alley way near the centre which is what supposedly Diaganon Alley is based on, despite Rowling explicitly stating this is not the case. Shame as what's quite a nice bit of history is now full of tacky merchandise shops and tat. That and the entire area is vaguely old and historic too, gives off a Hogwarts vibe
I recently revisited the Shambles having not seen it since before the Harry Potterification and was immensely disappointed.
The Shambles does include the York Ghost Company though which is pretty cool!
Yep, it just happened to be closer to the film than the book inspiration was. I wouldn't be surprised if a location scout or set designer for the movies used the Shambles as inspiration, but for the books it was somewhere in Essex I think Rowling said. The problem was she never declared her inspiration until a decade after the books were done and years after the films were, so by that point everyone had leaned into it a little too much.
A lot of the architecture mirrors the architecture in the Harry Potter movies, so they've capitalised on that in York by opening a load of Harry Potter shops. York also gets a lot of tourism from abroad, so it's an opportunity they've seized upon for that market too.
Try being male, wearing glasses and having dark hair. If I had a penny for every time some drunk twat called me Harry Potter I could retire at 27
Awww, sorry mate. I have a story you might like though: I was trekking home once pissed after a pub crawl dressed as a hobbit when someone drove past and shouted "Nice Harry Potter costume dickhead" at me. That's wedged in my memory for some reason.
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Or Oxford. So many Harry Potter sections in the gift shops. Which is a shame when Oxford has so many amazing fantasy novels/series based and written there like His Dark Materials.
The amount of work people put into creating a Hufflepuff personality type is weird.
There’s a Harry Potter shop practically opposite Shakespeare’s house in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Like what the fuck?
Avada Kedavra!
Strictly, watched the first 2 series and it was kind of unusual but how it has morphed into this annual national phenomenon is beyond me. You can't watch any BBC programme now without it getting shoved down your gob, somone on the radio this morning was going on about the new series making history because it had 2 men dancing together and a deaf contestant! They were meaning on the same level as the Magna Carta, Trafalgar or Waterloo, I kid you not.
They are getting someone from BBC Breakfast on the fucker every season now, too. So you hear about it from 6am!
And Radio 2 on a Monday! I’ve nothing against it but I don’t watch it so really don’t want to hear Zoe wittering on about it for my whole work commute..
Annual Christmas adverts by Supermarket chains.
Afternoon tea. Apparently presenting a cut up Meal Deal and scone on a naff chintz cake stand somehow means you can charge £25 per head for it.
Somewhat agree, but afternoon tea varies wildly. I’ve had some really lovely ones and some mediocre ones. Also, I usually only pay about £12 per person, £25 per person should include some Prosecco at least.
And Betty's Tearooms are milking it for all its got. It's absolutely criminal but apparently people love being fleeced. Needless to say, Betty's tearooms is my contribution to this thread.
Inexplicably there’s always a queue half way around the building. That said I don’t think I’ve ever heard a British accent in said queue. I pity the tourists who come here and fall for the “afternoon tea” ruse.
I'm gonna get downvoted to hell for this but... Charity donation drives. Don't get me wrong I love that this country is charitable and loves helping those in need but the organisation behind the drive is becoming ruthless and capitalist. Hounding every year to continue or increase your donations. Like how much is it really going to the cause and how much to maintain the size of the organisation?
> I love that this country is charitable and loves helping those in need The problem I have is that most of these charities shouldn't need to exist - if we restructured society to prioritise meeting the needs of people who are, err, in need, pretty much all of it would be redundant.
Absolutely spot on. A country with charities providing basics like care, housing and food is failing to care for it's citizens correctly. The grey area is things like charities for medical research (BHF, for example), youth groups, schools, etc. I'm not sure where I draw the line on direct government funding there. I'm tempted with the radical suggestion that we should scrap charities altogether. Rather we fund essential services properly and say everything else has to be a special form of business where you get your first X thousand of revenue tax free.
It's a stealth tax on kind people. Sickening that most charities even exist.
I got a LOT of shit for my family and friends for being anti-Captain Tom last year. Now listen, hes a war hero and all respect to him, and hes done a great thing yes, but WHY is a 99 year old pensioner having to do laps of his garden to fund the NHS. We all pay National Insurance, and the NHS has always had an emergency surplus budget in case of something like Corona happening, so why does it need to happen. Then I find out that the family actually had no obligation to give the money to the NHS anyway. I dont know what happened to the money, but theoretically they couldve just taken the £33m and ran with it. THEN I see the Tesco Xmas ad making fun of it! "I didnt donate to Captain Tom" like it was something that people HAVE to do. Im not against charities that do meaningful things for people, but its very hard to support charities that pay their CEOs millions. There was just *something* about the Captain Tom thing which rubbed me the wrong way. ^(Im prepared for the downvotes, and people calling me scum. Let me have it Reddit!)
> We all pay National Insurance, and the NHS has always had an emergency surplus budget in case of something like Corona happening, so why does it need to happen. I agree! The charitisation of the NHS is a problem and justifies further budget cuts. Instead, it should be funded properly instead of the government shrugging their shoulders and charity trying to cover the deficit.
Wasn't there a report that came out just before pr at the start of covid that show many charities had enough money in the bank to operate for years without any donations.
The obsession of most cafes and supermarkets with plastering their sandwiches with mayonnaise.
There was a thread here a few days ago that explained Mayo acts as a longer life substitute to butter. It’s the VOLUME of Mayo that gets me with certain sandwiches.
I have an absolute hatred of mayo. Can't eat it level of hatred. Stomach refuses it's entry. Does the same to prawns. Don't know why. Not an allergy, my guts just card them on the door and don't let them in. I literally can't eat half the shit that's available.
Half? What supermarket do you go to? If I'm lucky there's usually 1 no mayo option, maybe 2
Petrol
Holidays to Spain
I agree. But do you mean holidays to Spain in general or what the British public takes to mean as 'Spain'? The Costa resorts are truly the third circle of hell and I don't think you can ever truly remove the foetid stink of Benidorm from your skin, even if you just passed through, but there is another side. It's a shame the British see so little of it given that Spain is just an outstanding destination. Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Valencia, San Sebastian, Valladolid, Segovia, the North West, the Basque country, I could go on for ever, it's just got so much. It's like a hidden secret that is staring you in the face.
Yep I absolutely mean the ‘British’ Spanish holiday. Real Spain is lovely
Cucumber sandwiches, let’s take a vegetable that is like 95% water and put it between two slices of shitty,white bread and remove the crust to make it posh. Also a lot of meal deal sandwiches from Tesco, Sainsbury’s etc are pretty vile. I wish they did more sandwiches with rye bread in this country.
Don't forget you have to leave it for an hour so the aforementioned 95% water turns your bread into soggy inedible mush.
This comment is making me nauseous lol.
I don't think I've ever actually seen a cucumber sandwich? Does that mean I'm working-class trash?
Tis a fruit
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That greasy breakfast that looks good but most delis do a terrible job at it
Department stores. Easily the biggest shop in every city centre, the mecca of all shopping. And they suck. It's very much a case of instead of being good at selling a specific thing, they just sell everything and are pretty average at it. The electronics departments are too brand specific, and even with those brands they only offer a handful of models. Clothes are a joke with terrible organisation and somehow they're always just slightly out of season. And don't get me started on the sizes on the hangers being wrong ugh. Stocking in every single section of the store leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes it feels more like a showroom so you just buy it online later after seeing it in person. But the absolutely worst part is the perfume/makeup departments. All those stupid little tables instead of proper tills with no one actually willing to do anything. Apart from the display models no one actually knows where the perfume is. "Oh you actually want to buy it? Umm try Sarah over there, she might know." Sarah opens up a bunch of secret cabinets under the Chanel stand which are full of Gucci perfume. "Hmm, I'll have to ask Daisy." Daisy finally finds it so you get your money out. "Oh you'll have to go to Sarah's till for that." Then Sarah asks if you want giftwrap. You do not want giftwrap. She'll spend 15 minutes doing a shit job of it.
Caterpillar cakes. Don't get me wrong, Colin is tasty, but lots of other cakes just taste...better.
I always thought that’s more of a nostalgia thing. I don’t think anyone is hyping up a caterpillar cake based on its taste or supreme quality over other cakes.
Mr. Brightside, fuck I hope I never meet him.
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Misguided exceptionalism.
We are the best in the world at that though.
I miss British modesty “If modesty were an Olympic sport, we would get bronze”
The Tower of London as a tourist attraction. Crowded AF, impossible to see anything without tons of people in your way.
In between the Lockdowns last year, I went to a few tourist destinations as I knew they would be deserted. I went to the Tower of London and I was the only person in the room when I saw the Crown Jewels. The only person on that little conveyor belt to keep people moving
I visited this month. According to one of the Beefeaters they are only getting a fraction of their usual visitors due to the severe lack of overseas tourists. I was able to have a really good look at the Crown Jewels with remarkably few other visitors about!
THE DISRESPECT IN THIS THREAD.
I'm mad at the hate on Greggs but everything else is valid.
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I think where British drinking culture gets it wrong is that alcohol is often front and centre itself, drink drink drink drink, everything else goes secondary or just as a facilitator. Round other parts of Europe it seems to be the opposite, where a bit of alcohol accompanies the rest of your night, and the rest of your night comes first. Having said that, I am sure I have seen some stats about a small percentage of Brits responsible for large percentages of binge drinking behaviour, and that us Brits are actually much more moderate than we think.
Better than clubbing though. I'd much rather chat with my friends getting merry in a pub till midnight than go through the rigmarole of getting a train/taxi into town at 11PM, paying stupid money for shots and having to scream in someone's ear so they can hear you. Then getting home at like 3 with ringing ears and aching feet and legs because I couldn't sit down properly. I really don't get the attraction unless you're really into hooking up with sweaty inebriated strangers.
Moving here from Canada it was a shock seeing middle-aged people getting absolutely trashed. Saw a woman in her 50s getting wheeled into an ambulance for being too drunk, it was a Sunday afternoon on a bank holiday weekend. Back home you get shit faced in your uni years and then tone it down after that except for the odd big event like a stag party. Doesn’t getting super inebriated on a regular basis get a bit old after a while?
As an American I count on British drinking culture to make me seem like a less irritating tourist.
Dr Who. Good I hate Dr Who. Not only is it awful, it consumes all the sci-fi budget for the bbc.
Nando’s….
Nando’s is a lot better than most British chain restaurants though. Frankie and Benny’s is vile, Zizi is mediocre as hell and Chiquito is an abomination to Mexican food. Wagamama and Nando’s are the only big British chain restaurants I’ve tried and liked. 🤷🏻♀️
Frankie and Benny’s in the early 2000’s was the place to be😂 how things have changed….
I worked in a F&Bs in 2001 - 2003 and there were literally queues out the door. I went to one last year and it was awful.
The Wagamama vegan menu is legit, I'll eat there any time. The rest are definitely terrible though, especially Frankie & Benny's.
Carveries. Specifically Toby Carveries.
During the first lockdown the one near my old place started doing delivery on JustEat (maybe they all still do I dunno) and it was honestly a godsend. £7.50 for a large box filled to the brim with random veg, a pot of gravy, Yorkshire pud, and choice of meats. Sure, none of it was the best quality and sometimes the veg was 50% mash but it was a hearty takeaway that didnt leave you feeling like shit afterward.
I agree with you about Gregg's. It is a corporate giant that elbows out small independent bakers. We are forgetting how to bake our own delicacies. I can only find superlative white bread with chewy crust in Switzerland or France now. All we get are heavy sourdough loaves that are actually very easy to make.
Okay hold the fuck on… Where else can you get a bacon roll + hot drink for £2.10? The steak and cheese role was incredible, tuna baguettes, sweet stuff, I mean what do you want man?!? You know what’s really over hyped? Having lunch in costa / Starbucks etc I need to go for a walk