Holiday Showdown

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Holiday Showdown
Format	Entertainment, Reality
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original airing	2003

Holiday Showdown is a reality television programme, produced by UK independent TV production company RDF Media, which first aired in 2003 on ITV in the United Kingdom. It has aired for five series in Britain and a pilot episode has been produced for the US.

1 Synopsis
2 Memorable episode
3 Holiday Showdown: Extreme
4 Episodes
5 References

[edit] Synopsis

The show follows two families, who have never met before, as they spend two weeks together at each of their ideal holiday destinations. The families do not know where the other family are planning to take them, but both must try and convince their guests that their own holiday is an enjoyable experience, as well as following the rules of their hosts when they are taken away. This usually results in conflict between the two families, who often have very different ideas about how to have fun. The series follows a rather formulaic pattern, in that the families tend to differ drastically in their background. One family, for instance, will be religious, or rather staid and strict with their children, the other family will be "hell-raisers" intent on having a good time. The destinations tend to be Acapulco, Torremolinos, or similar. They will drag the religious family around nightclubs and karaoke bars, which usually results in the stricter mum disapproving of the teenagers from the other family being allowed to drink, swear, etc. The "hell-raiser" mum will then confront the strict mum, with predictable results, and the two will end up at each others throats.

The second week involves the religious/strict family taking the hedonistic family on a tour of war museums in Portugal, fishing in the wilds of Scotland, or, memorably, visiting a remote African village. This often results in the family (frequently at the instigation of mother) refusing to participate in the activities, and sometimes changing their accommodation to more luxurious and lively surroundings. This tends to infuriate the staid family, and recriminations fly. A poignant note is often struck where the younger children are involved, as they tend to like each other, at first, anyway, until the fur flies. One child who had never been to a fairground came running off a roller coaster in Blackpool and declared it was "the best holiday I've ever had!" The older teenagers often clash, or are surly with each other. There is a device whereby the families talk individually to a camcorder, in private, revealing their thoughts.

At the end of the two weeks, the families meet up for one final showdown as they speak honestly about what they thought of each other and the two holidays.This nearly always degenerates into a slanging match between the people who antagonised each other the most.

[edit] Memorable episode

One notable exception was an episode in which a couple and their son Daniel Garland took another couple with one son to Disneyland Paris. This was anathema to the rather artistic and cultured family who reacted with dread at the thought of it. Although the mum remained rather snooty about the whole trip, (she expressed icy disdain at "It's a small world") the dad and son were much more open minded and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The artistic family then took the Disneyland family to Paris proper, despite their aversion to all things French! They ate at French restaurants and visited the Pompidou Museum. The Disneyland mum was visibly moved by the paintings she saw there. The two families definitely learned from each other,and were full of praise for each holiday. This, however, is not normally how the programme tends to unfold.

[edit] Holiday Showdown: Extreme

On 21st June 2007, ITV aired a new series of Holiday Showdown but this time under the new brand of Holiday Showdown: Extreme. The series was however the same format as previous ones (See 'Episodes' below). The prefix "extreme" may have indicated that the families differ in even more "extreme" ways than in previous episodes. ITV ran the series once a fortnight on Thursdays at 9PM. However the series unexpectedly ended after the second programme 5th July 2007. No comment was made by ITV explaining this except this quote made in an e-mail:-

"I'm afraid that we do not currently have any information relating to the scheduling of any further episodes of Holiday Showdown Extreme."

ITV then later said:-

"We do not have any information other than only 2 episodes were entered into the schedules. Unfortunately there is no information available as to how many episodes were actually made."

However the company which produces the show, RDF Media, state on their website that a fifth series was made under the name Holiday Showdown: Extreme containing six episodes.^[1] RDF Media have made no comment on the unnexpected end to the series either.

A sixth series is thought to be scheduled, commencing June 2008.

[edit] Episodes

The very first episode of this series showed an ex army father making the guest family march to a fire station in Slovenia to meet the firefighters.Constantly looking at his watch, he forced them to get up at 6am, and made their lives miserable. The unhappy family plotted their revenge and gave the father (and blameless mother) hell on their week in Disneyland Florida. The parents were shown as behaving in an alarmingly childish manner,(making them eat hot dogs, turning up the air conditioning in their bedroom) bent on exacting revenge upon the hapless family. Unusually, the teenagers got along (there was budding romance), and were upset by the warring parents.