CATFISH - The TV Show

[Jordan Catalano]

I never thought that I'd say MTV is airing a really fascinating and an actually important new series but I think that's exactly what they're doing with the series based on the documentary film. In each episode cutie patootie Nev Schulman, who was the subject of the film, takes people to meet and find out the truth about the people they've been talking to online and developed relationships with, sometimes over the course of a decade.

Is anyone else watching this? I mean some of them are CRAZY, disturbing, jaw dropping but at the same time, also extremely touching and sad. I just think it's an important show for (especially) kids to watch, who spend so much of their time social networking with total strangers.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I think Nev is so fine. The movie seemed fake and staged to me but the tv show is compulsively watchable.

I wonder if there will ever be any gay people on this, because this just seems like such a straight people thing. Every gay person I know (including me) was using the internet to meet people long before any straight people I knew were doing it, so I just wonder if these extended deceptive internet shenanigans are more of their world than mine.

The last show was crazy and not just because a woman spelled her name Mhissy.

[Jordan Catalano]

Oh man, that was KA-RAZY! I mean you can't write insanity like that.

And I love how Nev sits down with both people after the meetings and gets both sides. It's just a fascinating look at why people do what they do, for reasons that are good or bad.

[Jordan Catalano]

And this is MTV. I'm SURE they'll have gay people on it.

[ljay889]

I find MTV pretty repulsive these days, but I saw an episode of this show, and it was quite good.

[EricMontreal22]

"The movie seemed fake and staged to me but the tv show is compulsively watchable."

That's how I feel too. I do think it's not just a straight thing--I had a friend I met ona music forum that I spoke to for about a year and then he disappeared. Six months later I got a big email apology to me about how he had created a fake identity, everything he had told me was fake, the photos were fake, etc (we never had anything romantic going on, though). I was kinda annoyed but, oddly, not all that upset, and we stayed friends--I even visited him when I was last in San Francisco.

[Jordan Catalano]

For you, Phyllis -

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I think fake friends are easier to miss than fake lovers. These people on the show just seem so gullible.

[Jordan Catalano]

To quote Jewel (and not ironically) - "The heart can hallucinate when it's completely starved for love".

And I think that's very true with so many people.

[trentsketch]

I don't think the documentary was particularly fake. I think Nev and his team realized they were being had before they revealed it on camera, but I think they acted in a realistic way to prove their suspicions. The artifice comes from realizing long before the farmhouse scene that something was really wrong with the story. Nev isn't an actor and didn't do a good job of pretending to be for those scenes in the film.

The reaction at the reveal, though? That was real. Even if they thought they knew everything, they didn't.

THe show already had a gay subject. It was a bi high school girl who pretended to be a guy to explore her sexuality in a safe way.

[Jordan Catalano]

Oh yeah, I forgot about her. She was a bitch!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Oh, maybe I mhissed that one. I font recall any episodes with high schoolers. Unless that was the one with Sunny and Jameison? I didn't remember her saying she was gay, though. And still, that was a straight person being duped.

[JoeKv99]

I watch to catch the occasional shot of Nev waking up in a Motel 6 in his underwear.

[Jordan Catalano]

Yeah, at the end when they meet again she asks the girl if she's gay and she say she's "bi", so.... y'know. And she was 19, so she was in high school when she started the deception.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Oh, ok.

[CapnHook]

I like the subject of the documentary series. It's a fascinating premise and the reveal is ALWAYS interesting even if repetitive.

This being said, there is so much "producing" happening off-camera (or scenes that end up on the cutting-room floor) that it can come off as unbelievable (staged or fake). As an example, the episode where the online guy who was supposed to be a model turned out to be a younger female. She lived in a separated garage-turned-bedroom in the back of the household that they drove to. When they arrived onto the premises, it was all too easy to find their way to the back of the house, then suddenly hear some noise, then the person willfully comes out to meet them when she could of stayed hidden? It's too far-fetched the way that this reveal happened.

I wouldn't be the least surprised if a producer went ahead to the residences and met with the online people first, off-camera, to get their story. Then on the day when they schedule the visit, a producer is with them inside already to make sure the encounter happens. If this is how they do it, I understand why it may be necessary, but it does add a sense of unrealness to the already odd and uncomfortable situation.

[SNAFU]

You mean when someone comes to the door "unexpectedly" and you see the mic pack under their shirt in the back?

[CapnHook]

Exactly. I don't remember seeing a mic pack in the episode I'm referring to, but shows like this generally stage these moments, even if unscripted.

There are reality series that do not stage scenes (COPS being the first that comes to mind). For the most part, most reality shows do have most of their scenes staged, and the art of it is trying to make them seem organic.

One of my favorite guilty pleasure reality shows is Hardcore Pawn. Every person that makes it on camera to pawn something obviously knows they are on camera, yet the producers are so methodic in the way they form the episodes, I forget that I'm watching a staged moment each and every time. The blend of drama, characters, premise, and subject makes for an organic, enjoyable moment every time.

[Jordan Catalano]

Whether the actual reveals are staged or not doesn't have anything to do with anything. The point of the show is to reveal who these people have actually been talking to. And some dramatic camerawork or pre screening of who or where they are doesn't change WHO they are and te effect it will have on the other person one bit.

[trentsketch]

Nev has admitted the production stuff already. The only people who don't know the full story are Nev and the subject of the episode. The producers and camera people have already hunted down the deceiver and got clearance for them to appear on the show.

I think this show is fascinating. The episode I like the most so far is the one where the larger girl finds out her online love is real.

He was hiding his identity because his weight ballooned (almost to immobility) after high school and he was embarrassed to meet her until he slimmed down. When confronted with the choice between the man she dreamed about the man who was going to propose to her, she became overwhelmed and stepped away from both options.

It felt honest. She seemed to be hoping that the online lover was fake so she didn't have to choose, then didn't know what to do.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

See, I thought she decided that she didn't want to be be with him now that it turned out he was heavier. She seemed like she was pretty gung ho on him before that.

[Jordan Catalano]

It seemed like that to me as well, but she still broke up with the other guy and they are still talking everyday just like before. So who knows. Hopefully they'll go back and talk to some of these people at the end of the season.

[JoeKv99]

I hate hate hate the staging that goes on in (almost) every reality show. I've noticed what seems to be an awful lot of "acting" in Catfish. And how big of a camera crew do they travel with? Some of these "reveals" have had what seemed like 3 or 4 cameras picking up the action.

[CapnHook]

I noted that the premise of the show is interesting (the reveal of the online individuals), but what cheapens it a bit (at least for me) is how the production of the series make it not as believable as it could be. Other reality series manage to bring fresher honesty and spontaneity to their "reveals."

This is what makes CATFISH less enjoyable for me.

[Jordan Catalano]

I hope they find out Elaine Stritch has been on grindr pretending to be a 27 year old.

[clever name]

I'm loving this show! Although I admit I think a lot has to do with Nev. I have a big giant crush on him.