Telly Text #7: Men At Work & Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild

on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Words: Jordan Andrew


'Men At Work'


I usually don't pay attention when I see television shows advertised in a newspaper, but when I saw the small advert for 'Men At Work' it kind of made me want to watch it. Maybe because my workplace is full of women or maybe because I'm a television addict - whatever the reason, I have given 'Men At Work' a chance.

This show follows four friends who work together at a magazine and help each other through their mad personal adventures. After the main character Milo (Danny Masterson) is dumped by his girlfriend and goes into a depressing state, so it up to the rest of the gang to help Milo move on from the break up and start dating again.

Like with every group, each person as their own role and these guys are no different. There is Tyler (Michael Cassidy) the witty one, Neal (Adam Busch) the sensitive one and Gibbs (James Lesure) the womanizer/player of the group. These guys discuss some of the big issues we go through each day like, sleeping with your best friends maid or why do women go to the bathroom in groups...as I say everyday issues!


'Men At Work' is not one of those comedies that you laugh out loud at every single joke as to be honest, quite a few of the jokes are quite weak, it is generally the madness of the situations they get themselves into that is the funny part of each episode.

If anything 'Men At Work' does show the importance of friendship, which is something everyone should have, a group of friends to count on. This show is probably not going to win a Golden Globe anytime soon and they don't seem to care either, it is all about having fun. I would label 'Men At Work' as a light-hearted US sitcom - it isn't something that if you miss a few episodes you will be completely lost so give it a go.

Catch 'Men At Work' every Tuesday at 10pm on FOX.

'Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild'


When I want to escape away from London, I simply book a flight and go on holiday, so I can relax and have a good time. Ben Fogle clearly would rather go to places in the middle of nowhere and hunt for his own food. 'Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild' is like 'A Place In The Sun' if it was an extreme camping show.

Each week Ben visits a family that have turned their back on the city life and have set up their new lives in a remote part of the world. From Alaska to New Zealand - Ben travels all around the world to see how these people survive day-to-day life in the middle of nowhere.

When I started watching this, I assumed these families were people that were on rations and slept in tents. Clearly not the case as most of the families on this show have created their own little house and even have the internet.....so not all that extreme then! The "only" things that they have to work for is food and a fire so they can have hot water.


One of the things I did notice is that they are very hostile towards Ben in the beginning, as if the film crew forced themselves into their homes without permission. In my opinion, they could have been a bit more inviting to him, instead he is forced to catch his own food and sleep outside of a tent. Now if that was me, I would have booked myself in a hotel and called it a night which is perhaps what Ben Fogle actually did but for now we will just believe he really did sleep rough.

Apparently the aim of this show is to see if Ben Fogle could survive out in these harsh conditions and maybe even more out to a remote location. I truly believe this show is to put people off ever going camping again, the thought of seeing a bear or being blown away by one hundred mph winds is all the evidence I need to put me off camping and I used to be a Scout - although I never camped when I was in Scouts. On the other hand, watching this show does give you a few survival tips, if I was ever stuck on a deserted island I would know how to search for rock lobsters and chop wood properly from a tree!

Catch 'Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild' every Monday at 9pm on Channel 5 or catch up on DEMANDFIVE.

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