I watched the first season of the UK version of The Traitors: It was absolutely friggin brilliant. I didn't expect it to be. But the game made me witness social dynamics in a way I have never seen on TV before. Gripping stuff. I also watched the first season of the US version - which was great as well, but suffered considerably from the producers' decision to staff contestants with a handful of known names bringing on camera experience. Luckily, they weren't the majority. But it gave a somewhat false air to the proceedings. And now along comes German TV station RTL and, we should have known, it does what it always does: Using (or shall I say: Misusing) every show for promoting the personal brands of people they call "Promis". These people are more or less (mostly less) well known in Germany, and RTL recycles them in their shows. Thus they become ever more valuable to RTL and their next show. For the German version of The Traitors that is bad news. Because now we don't get gripping social dynamics between regular people you never had heard of before and therefore cannot quite figure out. We now get a dance routine of professional egos. Which has a devastating effect on the entertainment factor. This version of The Traitors is just plain boring. I give 3 stars because the concept as such still is somewhat undestroyable. In this case, it is the execution that makes it sub-par TV.
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