Catfish: The TV Show

When I was in high-school, I accidently met a girl online while playing an internet role playing game titled IMVU. We ended up talking and eventually dating which eventually led to me driving out to meet her, she lived in Maryland while I lived in Pennsylvania. That experience makes Catfish all the more engaging for me to watch as I can Relate to alot of the emotions that are being felt by people that are going through these events! I've felt the nerves, I've felt the doubt, and I've felt the love that you can feel simply from talking to someone online. If you don't have this type of experience you may not understand or connect the show as much but it is definitely a great service to help these people get that little push towards meeting who they believe they are in love with and onto of that, makes for a great reality TV series.

In fairness, there were a few episodes early on that actually were interesting. Now it's just a combination of obvious clout chasers, product placement literally everywhere, and the show using people who appear to be genuinely ill.

They spend the opening of the episode "investigating" (in other words, searching the same internet that the "victims" presumably have access to). They speculate and brew some drama before setting up a meeting with the "catfish." The first encounter is usually more hostile so they take a break, then come back with something along the lines of...

"How did you get here? What made you do this? Tell us your deepest, darkest secrets. We care."

*catfish shares horrid story of woe and despair, usually accompanied by tears*

"Mmhmm, mhmm....terrible.... Ok well, bye!"

*Catfish crew leave, high-fiving each other about what good people they are.*

It has the train-wreck entertainment value of Jerry Springer, but unlike Springer, there's this really pompous, holier than thou attitude. They really seem to want to convince you that they "care" about these people they're exploiting.

What actually made me write a review was catching a few episodes of the latest season, where they've gone completely virtual. They're now making an entire television show of people literally just sitting at their computers arguing about ridiculous drama.

It's slightly hilarious, pretty sad, mildly creepy and extremely bizarre.

These two California cuckoo birds are catfishing everyone who takes this show seriously. I suppose it can be entertaining if you accept the fact that this is likely staged television. I read that Schulman was expelled from Sarah Lawrence College. That story is probably more interesting than this dreadful show is.

This show should be called: 99% of people online have no idea how to check a facebook profile.

Reverse image search tools and actually reading linked facebook profiles is about the extent of "Investigative research" that Max and Nev actually are capable of doing. This show proves 2 things, most people have no clue about the power of the internet, both to lure gullible people into fake relationships and it can be used to actually validate if a person is real or not.

The one thing great about the show and why it deserves 5 stars is the guys always seek a positive outcome and try to sort it all out to the best of their abilities.

The one thing annoying and downright artificial are the Social Justice Warrior T-shirts they wear. In particular is a pink one with the words "feminist." on it. I mean come on.... really? It is interesting on one level of social communication in the digital age and exemplifies how messed up it can get.

Conversely it is troubling that the TV show has a social agenda as MTV always has had and is duplicitous in the subtleness in which the show uses their stories as a vehicle to creating 'Societal norms" at a level that would make Edward Bernays proud.

Pros: Catfish shows clearly: How oblivious some people can be about their own actions and consequences. How unaware some people are about their "information" whether real or false shown publicly, and how vulnerable it makes them. How easy it is to convince some people of anything. Every Song used in the show titles the song name and song title. If anything this show provides a great case why Facebook should be banned as being destructive to people, community and society.

Cons: Max finally learns how to use the focus on his personal camera after 6 years making the series. Nev and Max show even they are gullible enough to be catfished themselves. Sometimes their T-shirts on the show oozes a stench of Social Justice Warrior, overly Pc Correct subtexts. The frequent use of MTV music to transition storyline through the filler footage and montages is used too much in some episodes. The entire idea of Catfish is one that is based on a foundational premise of people lying cheating and deceiving other people, by revealing how easy it is could give others ideas and make Catfish episodes an endless Tv show.

Goofy over-acted repetitious format overall yet stylized well, some episodes are worth a look, even though I suspect it's all scripted.

One of the ONLY watchable MTV shows. Not perfect but serviceable.