Unplugged Nation review
As a couple, PB and I have lived 100% off-grid since Dec 22, 2007, we have lived pretty rough, doing everything ourselves on a very small budget. In the last few years, going off-grid has become a popular for entertainment purposes, TV shows. I have turned down numerous offers from more producers than I can count wanting to put us on an off-grid reality show, the ones I have seen tend to promote drama and do not reflect the reality of a normal family living off-grid.
We don’t have TV, I refuse to pay to watch TV, I can watch just about anything I wish through the internet, but on occasion I catch some TV when I’m at my neighbor’s house. The other evening I was down there and caught a show called Unplugged Nation, the premise is they take a family (usually from the city) who are interested in living off-grid, they show them 3 properties within or near their budget, the family chooses to spend 4 days in one of the homes, they have an off-grid expert Jay Gruen (who is also the host) giving them pointers about how to live on the particular property, there are tasks to complete, then the family chooses whether or not to make an offer on that property or one of the other 2 properties.
What I like:
I have seen 3 shows and so far it’s OK, I would give it a 7 out of 10, mostly for the entertainment value, I do appreciate the fact that they aren’t just following the families around hoping to catch (or even create) some drama. Jay is a very laid back guy, he doesn’t get excited, he doesn’t yell or cuss, at least not on camera, I suspect he shakes his head an awful lot though. I would like to see more interaction with him and the family, and see the family doing more things, some real things.
What I dislike:
I don’t think it’s very realistic, so far I’ve seen very citified folk who have no clue about living rough, I think they have a fantasy idea of what it’s like. It’s not possible to show very much in a one hour show (40 something minutes of real air time with the commercials), so they have to be very brief in everything, you don’t get to know the families, you don’t get to see their real day to day life in their psudo-off-grid challenge. I see it as they are getting a free vacation, possibly even getting paid to do it, like going to a dude ranch or camping.
I also don’t relate to their budgets at all, we live so very differently, I can’t imagine having a budget of $400,000 or $500,000 or $600,000, it seems like chump change to them, of course where I came from, “back in the day” …