It's no secret that MTV churns out reality television minus a good portion of the reality. Catfish: The TV Show is no exception. The show is pretty formulaic, especially as you get deeper into the second season. Nev & Max "check their email" to find a candidate (or victim) for the episode. They meet with the victim, who proclaims deep emotional feelings for their online significant other, but various red flags are present - They've never met in person, never video chatted, etc. Nev & Max do a dramatic "investigation" where they use basic Google searches to confirm suspicions and raise questions about the potential "catfish." They then call the potential catfish, initiate a meeting, and take the victim to meet their online love. The results vary; sometimes the online lover is a true "catfish" and turns out to be older, less attractive, or even the opposite gender of their assumed identity. Other times, the story is less complex and involves minor lies. The endings range from disastrous to fairy-tale. This scene-by- scene formula is present in every MTV reality show, particularly those that feature a different person each episode (16 & Pregnant comes to mind, along with older ones like Pimp My Ride.)
Clearly, the show is not engineered exactly as it is presented, and there is plenty of speculation as to how genuine the narrative is. However, like the documentary, it manages to be very interesting. Despite the complete lack of intuition on the part of many victims, some of the people who appear on the show are relatable and enjoyable to watch. Nev Schulman is not the world's greatest host. Scenes exist that seem eerily robotic/scripted. The "investigation" portion of the show often borderlines on being a complete joke. But it's still thought- provoking and fun to watch.
There are plenty of issues to raise your eyebrows at, and the repetitiveness from episode to episode can be tiresome. But all in all, it makes for a delightful guilty pleasure.
Clearly, the show is not engineered exactly as it is presented, and there is plenty of speculation as to how genuine the narrative is. However, like the documentary, it manages to be very interesting. Despite the complete lack of intuition on the part of many victims, some of the people who appear on the show are relatable and enjoyable to watch. Nev Schulman is not the world's greatest host. Scenes exist that seem eerily robotic/scripted. The "investigation" portion of the show often borderlines on being a complete joke. But it's still thought- provoking and fun to watch.
There are plenty of issues to raise your eyebrows at, and the repetitiveness from episode to episode can be tiresome. But all in all, it makes for a delightful guilty pleasure.