Video Shock
Video Shock was a Flarlandian "caught on camera" television program that ran on Channel Ten between 1999 and 2005, with large breaks between each season. A total of ten programs were produced, with a further three to be made in late 2005, but got canceled.
Video Shock was known for breaking rules in television that no other country would do, as the program throughout most of its run was known for its breach of, among other things, personal data, swearing, depiction of violence and killing. Unlike other programs of its kind, all footage was shot in Flarland. Channel Ten refuses to show the program.
Concept[edit | edit source]
The premise of the program was introduced in June 1998 when Arthur Jeffries, a Michillian television news presenter, traveled to Flarland. His initial plan was to make a two-part report for the Michillian ITN network about violence in Flarland's underdeveloped slums, but over time, his concept changed.
While still on vacation in Wembley, he published a small article on the classifieds section of popular tabloid newspaper The Daily Examiner. His advertisement was simple: "Cameraman or gang leader needed to record violence for late night TV show". At the time, crime was scarce in Flarland (as the country was apparently beginning to "stabilize"), and only IBC and Channel Ten reported such stories. Channel Ten was interested, and hired cameramen and a presenter to do so.
IBC had a similar show but was tame in comparison. Real Footage consisted largely of footage from foreign programs but packaged with Flarlandian hosts, a Flarlandian studio and a catchprase, "the horror, the horror, the horror", remarkably similar to Jefferies' "the drama, the tragedyY, the horror". It is likely that Jefferies had stumbled upon a rerun of Real Footage at the time of recruiting.
Video Shock premiered in June 1999 as a late night show, saying that the authorities would only allow its showing after midnight. The debut showing was at 00:20 on June 25 (early hours of June 26), 1999. Over the summer period, the show attracted an unexpectedly large underage "shadow audience" - despite the host saying "please take the kids out of the room, and, if possible, take the room out too". Footage was extremely violent, the first episode, as examined by a television critic, consisted of "people yelling out swears, and trust me, there's plenty more than your usual late night TV show that feels like an acid trip" (referring to Channel 14's downright bizarre shows in the late night slots). Another critic says that someone had to recite all car license plates in the street, after the episode got screened, "tourism" towards such street noticeably increased, before issuing a warning from Wembley authorities. There was also a segment with two people fornicating, completely uncensored, with one critic saying that he was "witnessing free pornography like a relaunch of the now-erstwhile Top Hat Entertainment". Once the six episodes were finished, Channel Ten hoped selling these "uncut" programs abroad in order to earn "profit for violence". A Sierran cable channel refused, saying that it would "violate FCC laws", while selling it to Nashland's Channel 5 proved to be fruitful, it got cancelled after two of its six episodes were shown. Its director of programming thought that Flarland was "a dangerous country" just by watching the programs. Hopeland refused to air as there was a controversy with a syndicated television series similar to COPS that got cancelled in 1995. Northulia and the New Michillies refused to air Video Shock. A Nine Network director reportedly said that "the title alone is enought to make it a restricted show in Northulia" while TV3 in the New Michillies had some interest, but thought that the program would promote violence. As a consequence it was limited to domestic showings in Flarland and in Ashtalaia, where the channel was available on cable.
A second series of another three episodes was made in 2002. The plan was to do six but was halted after complaints with Peter Harrison, who reportedly hurt one of the show's cameramen. The third series was to consist of "five or six episodes" but only four were filmed, three were completed and the first went to air. Like the two previous shows, it was shown in post-midnight slots, attracting a higher number of controversies with each passing season. Once the budget to continue making the programs got delpeated, Channel Ten sued the producers and banned its continuation.
Impact[edit | edit source]
Video Shock had an impact not only in Flarland but in the entire world. At a time where crime-related programming was starting to increase at a worldwide scale, producers, increasingly concerned about individual privacy, began to censor elements that were considered to be "doxxing" by the authorities, as well as censoring faces for similar reasons. In Flarland, this was starting to become the case, yet the producers of Video Shock thought that it was "a good idea to invert these trends". At the time, there was a loophole for this kind of content, by showing after midnight, and not being allowed by the FBC. Shortly before the second series was created, an organization (disbanded in 2019) named The Juicy Bits was created.
The show joined Toony Franza's sketchily-detailed incident that led to its cancellation as the channel's "forbidden show" (the Toony Franza incident is widely regarded as a "forbidden video"). Following a series of shootings in 2019 - videos of whom got banned in selected countries, in particular those that were victims - and the ban on web communities that showed footage of graphic deaths (including Flarland's ban on LiveLeak and the disbanding of The Juicy Bits), Video Shock became basically a rememberance of "times where everything was possible" and they believe that the country's media industry has become "conservative" (in the eyes of the show's producers).
Following the above events and with the rise of the Toony Franzagate, a Flarlandian Redditor said: "It just doesn't make any sense to air the evidence without the juicy bits censored. In my day, long before shock sites (possibly on the verge of collapse here) Channel Ten used to air video nasties on Friday nights. They were extremely graphical and were nothing compared to similar imported crap that has emerged from other countries that has either the swearing or the violence censored. These days Flarlandian TV (University of Wembley Broadcasting being the only possible exception) is starting to become more conservative, more so because we live in the age of the internet beaming up crap to our heads." He adds saying that "even Video Shock was highly commented in schools. It was OK to watch, as long as it was on Friday nights"
