I really wanted to like this programme, and looked forward to it. I know it's basically a "reality" show with animals, and I know they are scripted, but this one is painfully obvious. Dr Blue is the funny guy, always coming up with some impossible idea that--gosh!--just happens to work out right on time, just the way he wants.
Maybe I'm strange, but personally I watch Animal Planet and animal documentaries to see the animals and learn about them. Yeah, okay, a little human interest is normal. Recently though, when it comes to animal programmes it's all about the presenters and/or the vets, the wannabe celebrities. The focus in Vet Life is on their families, their personal lives (at least as scripted for the show) and themselves, with a shot or two of the animals thrown in. They have this new, slick, modern clinic. "Your cat needs surgery right now." "I'm in your hands," smiles the client. Not one question about how much it's going to cost. You never see the receptionist mention billing, or money. In fact they manage to give the impression that it's all a public service; it might possibly all be free, if you didn't notice those lovely brand-new looking expensive homes...or are they sets for the show?
The "mobile clinic" trailer was laughable; you could see that the mud had been artistically placed, and the interior was brand new and sparkling clean, despite the half-dozen masks and pieces of paper tossed on the floor. I was pretty convinced that the "old paint job" was some kind of acrylic wrapping over the real trailer. And since when is a veterinary clinic "a brand"? Do they remember that oath that they took when they became vets, the one that starts, "Primum, non nocere"--first, do no harm? Well, I guess the show itself does no harm...but it does the profession no good, either.
Maybe I'm strange, but personally I watch Animal Planet and animal documentaries to see the animals and learn about them. Yeah, okay, a little human interest is normal. Recently though, when it comes to animal programmes it's all about the presenters and/or the vets, the wannabe celebrities. The focus in Vet Life is on their families, their personal lives (at least as scripted for the show) and themselves, with a shot or two of the animals thrown in. They have this new, slick, modern clinic. "Your cat needs surgery right now." "I'm in your hands," smiles the client. Not one question about how much it's going to cost. You never see the receptionist mention billing, or money. In fact they manage to give the impression that it's all a public service; it might possibly all be free, if you didn't notice those lovely brand-new looking expensive homes...or are they sets for the show?
The "mobile clinic" trailer was laughable; you could see that the mud had been artistically placed, and the interior was brand new and sparkling clean, despite the half-dozen masks and pieces of paper tossed on the floor. I was pretty convinced that the "old paint job" was some kind of acrylic wrapping over the real trailer. And since when is a veterinary clinic "a brand"? Do they remember that oath that they took when they became vets, the one that starts, "Primum, non nocere"--first, do no harm? Well, I guess the show itself does no harm...but it does the profession no good, either.