I occasionally catch this show, and it can be kind of interesting to see how other people live. It's also a neat concept trying to pick a partner based on external evidence about what sort of person they might be, a sort of mystery. There are a number of things that surprise me about it though.
One thing, is that supposedly the participants (one guy and three girls or vice versa) supposedly don't know that they're going to be a part of the show. Huh? Presumably they answered a casting call for it on MTV's website. It's surprising when rooms are noticeably dirty, or have embarrassing stuff in them; wouldn't you have cleaned up if you were going to participate in such a show?
Related to this, supposedly they don't know that participating means that their room will be searched by their would-be suitors - um, that's the name of the show. Spposedly they don't know when they'll be grabbed out of their rooms by the show's staff, and taken to a van where they'll watch their room being searched. Well, the show must know when people are going to be at home and when they won't be required to leave for a job or class, etc. That would seem to indicate that the participants told the show when they're free, and thus they must have some idea when they might be seized.
I'm not so much surprised by this next things, but more disappointed in people. A great many of the participants are really judgmental. I can see not wanting someone who is not/ is a smoker or a need to share political or religious beliefs (based on whatever evidence is found in the room). However, more often than not the deal breakers are collections, or articles of clothing, or CDs, or certain sports, or schools, and who could really care so much about those? Must people necessarily share every taste?
Searchers also overly extrapolate from individual items. For example, a magazine on Progressive Farming, supposedly means the person is a farmer, and the searcher doesn't like farmers. But an item like that could belong to a friend, or have just one article of interest, or be related to a class or internship, or any number of other things. And if the person is a farmer, well, so what? Where would we be without them? They also overly extrapolate from the absence of things. Some of the room's owners have their underwear in the laundry, or their personal items are at home and not in their room at school or new apartment. The searchers consequently assume the owner doesn't wear underwear, or doesn't have any personality or interests.
Searchers can also be quite rude, making unnecessarily mean comments about things, trashing rooms by dumping things on the floor, being tacky by looking for stains, etc. (To some extent the show encourages this by having a blacklight in a searching kit; the show would be better without it.) One of the worst instances must have been when a group of guys went into the girl's parents' room (bad in itself), and pulled out her mother's underwear and hung it on a door. What's wrong with these people? I'm also surprised by the number of guys who will dress up in the girls' underwear or dresses! If they're transvestites, hey: whatever floats their boat, but the women can hardly appreciate having their stuff mistreated that way.
At the end of the show, the searcher says the things they like and dislike about each room. Supposedly, people are picked on the basis of their rooms, but I have a suspicion that when searchers praise things they liked in each room they're looking for reactions from the room's owners, so they can pick on looks. Probably would be better if the searcher didn't get to see the rooms' owners until after they eliminate each one.
