The two hundred and twenty-third TV show: #843 The Only Way is Essex
We could only stomach three episodes of this - more to see a few different samples from different seasons than because I ever wanted to really watch more. The mix between realism and pre-written shows why actors and improvisers have decent training, as here you don't get any of that. The situations and drama are predetermined, with the lines improvised within what they want to say - not unlike, say, Curb Your Enthusiasm - but they're done by "normal" people whose money-filled glamorous life is meant to be accessible enough that people want to aspire to it. On an intellectual level, I get that people might be looking for a soap here that feels more real with actual people in it, but soon enough it feels like badly-acted soap operas that don't mean anything, with people I just can't like.