Those who read my tweets and retweets on Twitter will know my love for the tv show Mystery Diners, broadcast in the UK in the Food Network.
It’s not unknown for me to love cookery based shows: I’m a fan of anything with Gordon Ramsay (as is Fox apparently), Diners Drive-Ins and Dives, and Restaurant Start-Up to name but a few. Ramsey is engaging enough as a chef in his own right as well as the exaggerated tv personality.
However, I’m becoming downright obsessed with Mystery Diners. The first reason is that it’s just so much fun. Seeing such terrible behaviour unfold is always fun, in a similar way to that of Kitchen Nightmares, and some of these examples are both hilarious and thoroughly deplorable.
But it’s also pitched as a detective show, with investigations and stings. Whilst the outcome may never be in doubt, the formula is engaging and relaxing in its own right, the audience can play along thanks to the multi-camera footage. A close analogue is actually another favourite of mine: Columbo. And this is because Mystery Diners starts with a hypothesis of guilt (which sometimes can be a red herring), reinforced by the latest series which introduces private investigators who can confirm the guilty parties for us to follow and see caught in the act.
Columbo had Peter Falk and his equivalent here is the ultimately unflappable Charles Stiles, less a host and more the detective in charge. You almost expect him to say “Errr just one more thing…” as Columbo was apt to do.
Stiles is possibly the key ingredient here: a real life character with a love of good red wine, hot sauce, and the word ‘shenanigans’ (the latter being sufficient to make him a hero in my book). He doesn’t resort to histrionics (although will show his displeasure) and comes across as a genuinely nice guy and a gentleman who uses his resources to help challenged business owners.
Of course there’s a formula and of course it’s a tv show. But I love it, shenanigans and all.
SOURCE: The Random Viewer
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If you're considering implementing a mystery shopper program for your company, or would like to join us as a mystery shopper, we'd love to have you join us!
Learn more here by clicking HERE!