Brits Behind Bars
10-part 30 minute series starts on Thursday, on Bravo at 10pm
Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a tough guy. Stories of him and his somewhat unorthodox approach to penal correction in Maricopa County do the rounds of the Internet every few months. Sheriff Joe believes not only that the punishment should fit the crime but also that it should be ... uncomfortable for anyone being punished. Otherwise, well, it's simply not punitive enough. Sheriff Joe is a man my mother would get on well with. And now a bunch of no-good British "bad lads" are going to have a chance to get on well with him too.
They'd better.
I grew up in a house where pithy comments like "they want shooting," "they should be strung up," or "why don't they bring back the birch/stocks/whipping post? That'd teach 'em," were regularly hurled at the television news from the other corner of the sofa. Yep, I think if Sheriff Joe sat down for tea with my Mum, he'd come away thinking he was too lenient.
Since then the world in general, and criminology in particular, has moved on and it's no longer fashionable for punishment to hurt or even be mildly embarrassing. No, it's enough now that violent criminals have their liberty curtailed. Or at least, that they're not allowed to go down the pub more than twice a week while they've got their tags on, and even then no later than an hour after closing time. Yes, the world's a more civilised place now. Except in Maricopa where Sheriff Joe - anachronism to some; breath of fresh air to others - bawls out his simple mantra to the inmates while they stand in their chain gangs dressed in prison-issue pink underwear.
What's all this got to do with British TV you may ask?
Oh ... you wanted an answer. Well self-styled "televisual broadcaster for the modern gentleman" Bravo has commissioned a 10-part 30 minute series to be called Brits Behind Bars: America's Toughest Jail which takes ten bad guys from the UK men to Arpaio's "Alcatraz of Arizona" to find out exactly how bad they are.
I predict this will be even more compelling viewing than Bad Lads' Army. It's another of those all too rare programmes: a reality show that is real. No dreamt-up bush tucker trials. The prison food is far more disgusting. No half-assed tests - try a chain gang instead.
Celia Taylor, Bravo's director of programmes, says: "I've never seen a reality programme that is genuinely scary and so real. We took a risk putting British blokes in this prison and it's paid off with a really compelling and exciting series. At the same time it also manages to ask some interesting questions about a prison system and how it affects a group of men who face an uncertain future. These guys really went through a tough regime the result is a fascinating and shocking series."
tvscoop
