Tag Archives: television

“Ferrett’s: The Pursuit of Excellence”

This is more bizarre than TLC’s obsession with little people.  I wonder what the pitch was for a show entitled “Ferrets: The Pursuit of Excellence.”  Is it too harsh to tell these people to get a real life?

Another Little People Show? Really?

Time for a rant.  What’s up with TLC and their obsession with little people.  I understand the why people are drawn to such shows — morbid curiosity.  They want to stare at little people on TV.  TLC obtained initial success with the reality show “Little People, Big World” that chronicled the life of the Roloff family.  That show explained the daily difficulties of little people.  However, it also showed that little people are just people.  Their families are just as average as every other normal family (needless to say I am not too impressed with the Roloff’s parenting skills).

Then comes the show “The Little Couple.”  To be fair, I like the couple in this show a whole lot more than the Roloffs.  Bill and Jen (aka “the little couple”) are very normal, well-adjusted, loving people.  My biggest problem with this show?  It majors on the mundane.  The producers spend time following the couple on benign vacations and birthday celebrations while failing to explain all of the triumphs and successes that had to occur for Jen to become an intensive care pediatrician!  Essentially, this show follows very normal, intelligent, average people who happen to need a step stool to cook dinner.

I am not trying to minimize the difficulties of little people.  I understand life is more difficult for someone with dwarfism.  I just think we’ve turned disabled people’s lives into a carnival freak show.  We pay the network our money and stare at the “Little Couple,” “The Little Chocolatiers,” or the “Little Parents.”

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I saved my TLC rant about shows featuring morbidly obese people, or families with 20 kids, or anyone who is getting married…