Stacked

I stumbled across this last night on channel 4 and I loved it! I haven't seen something this witty, dirty and darkly funny centred on British females since Sugar Rush. In a similar vein to Sugar Rush, Skins and Shameless, it accurately portrayed both teenagers and their parents, not siding with either, in a funny and watchable way. My only grip is why the hell was it on so late, hidden away in the TV schedule? Why, when we are subjected to so much crap TV, was this little gem not properly publicised and advertised. Because it is set in Scotland? Channel four should be doing better than this to support genuine talent when they are lucky enough to find it. I really hope it becomes a series, I'd be a guaranteed viewer! I'm not going to say anything about the plot- go seek it out and watch it.

I thought Stacked was a smart, well-written drama that brought up some very relevant issues. The pressure on teenage girls to conform to the stick thin big boobed likes of Jordon and Victoria Beckham are huge and I thought Stacked really brought attention to this in an intelligent and entertaining way. As well as tackling important issues, it was also funny. When is the next ep being aired? I cant wait to see how it develops. The three teenage girls were all interesting characters. As was their father. When your career is actually helping to create the unrealistic images of woman we are bombarded with...you have a lot to answer for. No wonder he's having a hard time of it! And rightfullyt so.

Shown as part of C4's 'Next Generation of talent blah blah blah...' season, "Stacked" was just another unfunny, direction-less story which relied on resorting to 'lad's mags' tactics for its points of interest. The performances were adequate given the material, but the characters themselves were devoid of any likability.

C4 have spent the last month constantly advertising the fact that 'new talent' is taking over C4, when really they should actually invest their time and money more sensibly.

The whole thing smacks of rolling the dice and lets hope something good comes of it somewhere along the line...

Next!

Stacked is one of the best shows I've seen in ages. It followed real girls with real and recognisable problems, all of whom I felt I actually cared about by the end. The premise - three sisters whose dad runs a Nuts/Zoo type lads mag was relevant and topical. I'd never stopped to question what kind of men are behind these sort of magazines, well beyond imagining the stereotypical sleazebag, but Jamie was a very interesting character and made me wonder whether men who work in the lads mag industry do also have families and how they manage to combine the two. We live in a time where girls are made to feel more insecure than ever before about their appearance and whether they are sexy enough - even pre-teens are aspiring to look like porn stars. Stacked tackled this deftly - each of the sisters had a different reaction to their father's profession from the fourteen year old man- eater Tallulah to Ginny suffering from low self-esteem about her body to lesbian Shona using the magazine as a way to get closer to scantily clad girls. I'd love to see more of Stacked and find out how the story unfolds. It aired in August and I've heard no news of it since then so I assume it won't be continuing but I think this is a real shame - it's one of the few dramas that is both entertaining and thought provoking.

A comedy/drama pilot for Channel 4 this was a show aimed at teenagers. It was far more compelling and complex than I would have expected, representing three sisters each with her own set of problems and their dad who's the editor of a lads magazine. What really got me about Stacked was how it illustrated that teens are manipulated into feeling they should look a certain way/fit a certain role by the media - and the media is run by adults. As far as I'm concerned television is a bit of a wasteland at the moment. Amongst the endless drivel this was a real gem - something that made me think while also being very entertaining.