By Matthew Battles
In 2010, Yaniv Schulman fell in love online. Abigail was the perfect woman; gorgeous, funny, caring and talented. There was just one catch - Abigail wasn't actually real. When Abby turned out to be a slightly odd middle-aged lady named Angela, Nev was heartbroken.
In 2010, Yaniv Schulman fell in love online. Abigail was the perfect woman; gorgeous, funny, caring and talented. There was just one catch - Abigail wasn't actually real. When Abby turned out to be a slightly odd middle-aged lady named Angela, Nev was heartbroken.
Fortunately, his best friend and brother was there to film the whole thing from start to finish and, as you do, turned it into a fairly successful movie. Two years later Nev, who's inbox is choc-full of stories from people in similar situations, has teamed up with MTV to produce Catfish: The TV Show; a reality TV show/documentary series investigating the truth of online relationships.
Catfish sparked my interest from the first set of trailers and, sadly, I found myself feeling slightly underwhelmed. While an enjoyable program, the shows structure; Nev reads an email, Skype's with the mailer then pays them a visit to discuss the object of their affection, before making some investigations into the truth of their identity and returning to the mailer to take them to meet their online lover, feels incredibly formulaic. Admittedly there isn't too much you can do in terms of creativity with such a singular focus but it does make the experience somewhat predictable and repetitive.
Catfish sparked my interest from the first set of trailers and, sadly, I found myself feeling slightly underwhelmed. While an enjoyable program, the shows structure; Nev reads an email, Skype's with the mailer then pays them a visit to discuss the object of their affection, before making some investigations into the truth of their identity and returning to the mailer to take them to meet their online lover, feels incredibly formulaic. Admittedly there isn't too much you can do in terms of creativity with such a singular focus but it does make the experience somewhat predictable and repetitive.
It is worth mentioning that in the final few episodes of the season, the two hosts (Nev and filmmaker Max Joseph) do start to relax a little, messing around and enjoy themselves a bit more, spending time with their guests. There's one interesting moment where Nev, while fishing with the episode's focus, manages to land himself a Catfish - a real one! So perhaps the rigid structure was more about Nev and the team finding their feet, hopefully the recently commissioned second season will be more engaging.
It's a real shame that Catfish didn't quite measure up. The original film had a certain charm the TV show (even though Nev does come across as more likeable) tragically lacks. The word lackluster comes to mind. That being said, I'm sticking with Catfish for the second season. They've had a shaky start but there's something in it that's worthwhile.
It's a real shame that Catfish didn't quite measure up. The original film had a certain charm the TV show (even though Nev does come across as more likeable) tragically lacks. The word lackluster comes to mind. That being said, I'm sticking with Catfish for the second season. They've had a shaky start but there's something in it that's worthwhile.
As I've already said, I'm putting the rocky start down to nerves. This was Nev's first outing in the TV business after all, so it must have been daunting! With a complete season under his belt and the confidence of a second season's commission, I think it's more than likely that Nev's second run of Catfish might be a little more adventurous and that's worth sticking around for!
RSS Feed
