Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
The reactions are priceless |
| Disadvantages: |
Personalities clashing quite dramatically |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
In the world that we live where reality TV still seems to be prime time television and programs like Big Brother are still somehow still being broadcast, there's no surprises being sprung to find that yet another program that takes things just that bit further, only this time two group of strangers have to go on holiday with other!!
Holiday Showdown is a must to watch, the basic premise for the show is that two families who don't know each other take turns to go away as a group on holiday to their preferred places. This is similar in some ways to Wife Swap but with whole family units centred on a holiday, the problem is that the families come from completely different end of the spectrum and this is the main catalyst for fireworks and personalities clashing.
Also the locations of the places that both families are going to are not announced till everyone is ready to leave.
A normal program will be something like this. The Smith Family, they are loud, drink loads, brash and enjoy a lively nightlife and live life to the full, and they would go to a place like Tenerife or Cancun in Mexico with an 'all in one' package. Along for the trip is The Jones family who are a lot quieter and go to Church every Sunday, don't drink or do anything like the Smith's at all. In fact hey are the complete opposite in every sense of the word. So when the Jones's get taken to Spain for a week you see a family unit who doesn't want to take part in high octane activities such as drinking, clubbing, drinking, swimming in the sea, drinking, well you get the idea!! Seeing their faces drop as the envelope is opened announcing where they are going is utterly priceless, which plays well for the comedic value of the program.
What the Smith family is trying to do is show the other family their idea of what they do to unwind while away. But this is not the only thing as the Jones's will be able to get their revenge.
Throughout both journeys there a little voxpop's added in which gives the reaction of the hosting family. This can be a little viscous towards the other family at times and from this you can see the tension and stress building. So the second half of the program shows the Smith's going away with the Jones's on a total role reversal of the first holiday. Now as the Jones's are strict people who are also have strong spiritual beliefs, they choose to do what they have done for the last five years, and that is charity work in Africa. To see the faces of the Smith family is utterly priceless, as they cannot take any hair strengtheners, high heels, or anything that allows them to have a night out. In fact the place where they are going is a small village with less than a dozen buildings. So they will be camping.
On the whole the program works on two levels. Firstly you see the resort or in some cases location that both the families go to in quite some detail, there is quite a bit of detail given on each one as well, so you do get an account and it does in some strange way sell the place to you. Whether you like this or even like the place the families have gone to is another question.
It also works on a secondary level as you see a total role reversal of the key family members. For example Mom and Dad who are total control freaks lose it over something that the other family has done or in some cases not done and left a place early as it is not their thing. In most cases the reason as to why the other family will leave is mainly alcohol related anyway.
In some cases the kids who take part in this are completely thrown aside in the power struggle that develops between the parents of both groups. It is quite funny to see people arguing if a rasher of Bacon has been left on a plate or if a member of the opposite family hasn't pulled their weight. The kids behave better than the adults a lot of the time and they just seem to sit back and let the adults get on with it.
As in the recent episode where the holiday you do see the kids come out of there shells for example the daughter was a shy girl, and on the last night of the holiday she was singing on stage to a packed audience. There have also been some controversial happening that have reached the heights of being reported in the tabloids as well. Instances where the son of one family and the daughter of the other got romantically involved, watching this one I thought there would be a shotgun wedding coming up. Strangely after the big argument took place the remainder of the holiday was a bit of an anti climax!!! In fact everyone got on better! My favourite being the woman who had drunk a bottle of wine and decided to flash her chest at the camera, maybe okay for places like Tenerife but this was in the middle of crowded bar at Butlins!!! You can imagine the younger kids asking their parents the question, funny to watch but it did give out the wrong message, the next day the other family were not impressed at all.
The fallout of the heated discussions does drive the families apart and in some cases one group have even come home because where they've gone is there personal idea of hell, which is a shame as in some cases the adults as well as the kids involved have their minds opened up to something that is not only new but also different from anything they have encountered before. If it's a beach holiday then its usually stuff like Jet Skiing or Water Parks.
Before the program ends you have two things happen, all family members of both families gather for a last night meal. In hindsight this the opportunity that everyone has to address any issues is a chance to make amend as the chances are that your never going to see these people again, in reality this is where the argues tend to reignite. The discussion comes down to the parenting of the other family; this is manly because of the kids reactions and actions that have happened over the last week, but most of the time it is the adults and usually the Dad's who are attempting to be the Alpha Male. The Mum's also get involved, but seem to do this in a much better manner.
The second thing is that a video message from each family, whether to say thank you or whether to say we didn't enjoy being with you. Some of these are quite funny as you see people changing back into there non-holiday persona and reverting back to how they were when they went away. Other times it just an excuse to get one over the other family.
Overall this is typical car crash TV, the fact that the two families don't get on is the whole focal point of the program and more importantly it is the fallout that happens that can decide how well the actual Holiday goes. If I went on this program not only would I be getting two mystery destination holidays with people I don't know, but I would also enjoy them no matter what as at the end of the day its what you make of it. This is being shown on ITV2 on a Saturday morning at 11am. It does cure the hangover and brings a smile to your face. Hopefully ITV will commission a new series shortly as show this at the usual time of Wednesday at 8pm.
Besides this is a hell of a lot better than Bonekickers!!!
