The pleasure called TLC
Temptation, Love Island, MAFS, I always turn my nose up at it a bit. Unkind perhaps, but I don't really know what to do with it. Actually, I already disengage when an island element or wedding looms in the distance, because that's the recipe for misery. But suddenly I seem to be perhaps even a notch worse, without realizing it.
Did you see Linda's Winter Month this week? Matthijs van Nieuwkerk was cozily sitting side by side on the couch with Sigrid Kaag. What kind of TV they watched in their rare free time, Linda wanted to know. And suddenly the politician really said it: TLC. That's where the huge party of recognition began. For me, but also for Linda de Mol. All the series were then briefly flipped through, from My 600-lb Life (oooh) to 90 Day Fiancé (that never worked out) and Love After Lockup (because he was still a nice guy). I find it all equally delightful. So does Sigrid and so does Linda. You could say I'm in good company. Meanwhile, Matthijs was wondering on which channel this misery was being broadcast. Let's just say this is a well-kept secret.
What is the magic of TLC, I often wonder. I sometimes call it: TV that I don't have to think about. It unfolds, you watch it, but you don't have to do anything with it. Except occasionally being amazed at something that is so extreme and absurd that it also makes sense that you do this. Therefore, you also know very well in advance what to expect, which is soothing for my brain. Furthermore, it does little for the upstairs, because it's not like you gain enormous insights from the channel. It's actually a kind of moving lampshade with sound that you can quench your thirst on.
Sometimes I just want to spend a morning watching silly wedding dresses and giving commentary, seeing how four brides compete for the most beautiful wedding, wondering why multiple women want to marry the same rather peculiar man and hope to bear a trillion children and hope for a good ending after a ninety-day engagement. All this against better judgment.
But thanks to Linda de Mol and Sigrid Kaag, I now dare to admit this openly. If a party leader and program director-presenter dare to do it, then so can I. So I occasionally watch TLC, purely for the relaxation of my upstairs. And it works. Maybe I should give MAFS a try after all.
