Hands up who’s seen Gogglebox? Okay, yep, that’s just about everyone then - in fact, this meta-TV format filming families watching television has grown in popularity since it started in 2013, with spin-offs including Gogglesprogs (kids watching TV) and Dogglebox (dogs watch… OK - that’s not a thing yet, but Channel 4, if you’re listening).
Last night, the first of six-part spin-off Vlogglebox hit our screens, aired on cooler sister channel E4 to appeal to the selfie-talking, meme-loving millennials that are, well, you and me.
Rather than catching up with the past week’s most-watched TV a la Gogglebox, Vlogglebox is an hour-long show showing (mostly) 16-24 year-olds’ reactions to the latest viral content, from Ed Sheeran on Carpool Karaoke (‘he looks a bit homeless’) to faux-journalist Jonathan Pie’s political rants (‘too much swearing’ - according to someone’s grandma).
The new format takes the watchers out of the living room, showing groups of friends streaming videos in the park, on the bus, in an Uber (props for this one), and, er, in the kitchen with your grandma. They’re mostly under-25s though, and while the format is slightly less candid than G-box - with more B-roll and cringey interludes from Youtubers - it’s definitely worth a gander.
In the first episode, we see reactions to Gangnam Style singer Psy’s new single ‘I Luv It’, with the general consensus being that the K-pop star has ‘pulled another banger’ (I absolutely have to agree) with a song that’s a ‘lot more complex’ than Psy’s debut.
Another highlight has to be the Vloggleboxers watching ‘Parents Tell Their Kids When They Lost Their Virginity’ YouTube series, where American 20-somethings ask their rents about the first time they had sex - aka the ‘definition of oversharing’. My favourite comment on this is when one of the girls asks her friend how much you’d get paid to do something like this, because being Brits, saying the word ‘orgasm’ in front of your mum is Officially The Worst Thing Ever.
Somebody thinks this coffee ad video would do better if it poured Jagerbombs from your smartphone instead (that’s an idea I can get behind), and, of course, spot-popping videos get their five minutes of airtime, a millennial-dividing, Noughties-born phenomenon that you either love or hate.
What it does nicely - that Gogglebox doesn’t do so much - is offer a platform for lesser-known video content on a mainstream television channel, including prime spots for YouTubers Yung Filly and Joe Tasker (who is admittedly a bit annoying) and content makers such as Danny Donaghue’s short horror film ‘Rasp’.
Ultimately, if you enjoy the voyeurism that Gogglebox offers, you’ll probably be into this. Maybe you could get together with your friends, film your reactions to Vlogglebox and upload them to YouTube, but maybe that’s a content-oversharing step too far. You can stream the first episode on All 4 here.
*Vlogglebox is on E4 on Mondays at 9pm. *
Image courtesy of Channel 4
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.