Mjust one episode left and finally, next Wednesday, we will find out if the three couples of Married at first sight 8 they will decide whether to stay together or divorce. While we wait, let’s analyze the reasons behind this little television phenomenon which, every week, records peaks of 5.2% share and around half a million viewers on Real Time.
Marriage at first sightthe dating show mechanism
On air since 2016, the program was broadcast in the first three editions on Sky Unosubsequently moving to Discovery and free-to-air on Real Time. Based on the Danish format Married at First Sight, the mechanism of Marriage at first sight it’s pretty simple. Six contestants, who do not know each other, are paired together to form three couples who will see and get to know each other for the first time on their wedding daybecoming husband and wife by law.
During the episodes the couples are followed by three experts: Mario Abis (sociologist), Nada Loffredi (sexologist and psychotherapist) and in the latest editions also by Andrea Favaretto (life coach). The couples are filmed over the course of five weeks and at the end of this period they will decide whether to continue being married or divorce.
The reasons for success
With an average of almost 500,000 viewers per week glued in front of the TV, MAPV certainly is one of Discovery’s successes. Very often capable of beating the competition in prime time of the generalist networks. Not to mention the social interactions which, with each new episode, record record numbers. Data that may seem anachronistic given the now full-blown crisis of reality shows, a trend that has filled the pockets of advertisers for more than twenty years.
The three experts of “Married at First Sight”: Mario Abis, Nada Loffredi and Andrea Favaretto. (Real Time)
But what is so popular about this dating show? First the fact that it is the socio-anthropological experiment par excellence in the television field.
Secondly, the fact that, unlike other similar programs, the experts are protagonists on a par with their competitors. They are real deus ex machina with a central role in the show. They choose and pilot (in every sense) the actions of the participants, intervening during the work to make the most shaky couples work and asking for further meetings if in the meantime the relationship has not consolidated.
The love created at the table and the “schadenfreude”
Still speaking of the three experts, who they study the past, the tastes and propensities of the future spouses, fascinates the possibility that it exists There mathematical formula for the ideal partner. Beyond the classic courtship and bouquets of roses, the laws of love and the conventions of family institutions, as happens in another successful program like Men and women.
It is clear therefore that, on broken hearts, Marriage at first sight then give the pleasant illusion of hope for everyone. And the constant rooting for a happy ending, a dynamic quite common in romantic comedies and consequently also in these newborn unions whose protagonists are ordinary people.
Sonia and Alberto, two of the protagonists of “Married at First Sight 8”. (Real Time)
At the same time, however, typhoid contains a feeling that can be summarized with the German term schadenfreude. That is to say the pleasure caused by the misfortune of others, unsuccessfully translatable into “evil joy” or “cynical satisfaction”. Eight times out of ten, in fact, the participants of each edition decide not to continue the experiment; while among the few who remain uniteddivorce arrives after a few months, except in two cases.
It must be said that, certainly for entertainment purposes, sometimes the match is truly a losing bet from the start. Just think of the tragicomic couples formed by Giulia and Mattia (Married at first sight 7) and the sensational case, in edition number 6, of Lucas and Carolina: with the boy clearly attracted more by visibility than from the idea of finding the woman of his life.
Not to mention, in the current edition, the unbalanced relationship between Juanchi and Giannawith him annoyed and closed in on himself as if they had forced him to participate.
Armored social networks
Another important fact in the success of MAPV is the fact that participants are strictly prohibited from using social media throughout the broadcast. And not just regarding the escape of any spoilers which would ruin the climax of the final choice.
The embargo also concerns their biography: online it is almost impossible to find information about their past, an aura of mystery as happened to the film stars of the Thirties. It is a form of suspense that fuels even more curiosity and uncertainty of the ending.
A sigh of reliefcompared to other reality and dating shows, it’s the fact that none of the newlyweds or ex-weds attempt a career, on TV or elsewhere. Everyone they return to their lives without a shot being fired. It’s this one indifference in limelight comparisons – for the faithful of Marriage at first sight – it’s like a guarantee of their good faith and sincerity: they don’t feel taken for a ride and can live together with them the dream of an eternal love. Until it lasts.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED