REPO GAMES – TV Show Review & News
By Siri Karri
So I finally got some time on my day off from work to catch up on TV shows . . . naturally I came across a TV show called “Repo Games”. After watching the DVR’d show, I went onto Spiketv.com and watched every episode.
I’d like to offer the disclaimer that while I am a huge cynic, I am going to review this show assuming it is unscripted (it’s a reality show).
Tom and Josh are two charismatic “Repo Men” whose build suggests they were stunt doubles for the Terminator movies. They go around offering people whose cars are about to be repossessed a chance to pay off their cars by answering 3/5 trivia questions correctly. Answer 3 wrong, and the car is taken away. I won’t lie, it’s entertaining to watch the bottom 10% of America’s intelligence quotient answer simple questions wrong and lose their vehicle.
Yes, I’m a dick. Sue me.
Assuming this is a true reality show . . . there’s some things that really do bother me.
The pettiest of these claims is how these contestants are selected. There are many urban professionals who, due to the tanking economy, are unable to pay their car loans and have them repossessed. The overwhelming majority of the people featured on Repo Games, however, are either country bumpkins or poor blacks living in the ghetto. Unfortunately, both these groups provide the best “entertainment” so I can understand singling them out for the show.
The second is that the questions seem to be easier for the “good” people; single hardworking mothers, big families and a couple about to get married are fed soft questions at times. If this is a show that’s truly about helping people who are having a hard time get back on their feet, shouldn’t it be indiscriminate?
The SERIOUS problem with this show is that it backs people into a corner. Most reality TV show contestants are there by choice; people on the Apprentice or MTV garbage apply to be on the show. If Repo Games is true . . . then people who “applied” only by falling behind on car payments. One day, they are simply confronted by a TV crew who give them a simple choice: be on camera and compete in their trivia show or have their car repossessed.
Some of these people are idiotic. I’m not throwing that out there like a middle school kid insulting his friend . . . I’m saying some of these people seriously have to have mental defects to be this stupid.
I’ve always joked around that TV is “the one place where the mentally handicapped can find gainful employment” . . . but people at least choose to be on TV. These people are essentially forced to be filmed for a chance to keep their cars . . . and many of the losers are humiliated on television.
This isn’t to say I disliked this show; I loved it. It’s quick (only 22 minutes), it’s got an interesting premise and I’ll be damned if I didn’t laugh at the unfortunate contestants. Hell, I’m watching an episode right now where a thug/hustler is attempting to pay Josh $500 in cash to go away.
But after it’s all said and done . . . maybe Repo Games has crossed a line.
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