Space Cadets

A British reality television programme that sucked me in...

They told these poor kids that they were going to be the first British civilians in space. They made them go through all sorts of training exercises. Then they whisked them off to 'Russia.' Finally, they sent three kids and one actor into 'space' with two astronauts (actors). The punchline: they were just in a simulator a few miles away.

I didn't start to watch it until late in the series, but what I did see I couldn't get enough. The three cadets were hilarious. The Russian astronaut was actually a British actor with not the best russian accent. The American astronaut (Canadian - Yes, Canada is considered part of America) was just obnoxious. And the cadet actor kept me in stitches. The production crew kept talking to him through a secret hole in the closet, handing him things and sending people in to interview him. They had an issue with a moth one episode where it got into the simulator and everyone was in a panic that it would be seen by the three cadets and give the whole game away.

But as I watched, I got more and more annoyed by the whole thing. I mean, how stupid do you have to be? Wouldn't you start to question things when your feet were firmly planted on the floor of the 'space ship' (as in GRAVITY was still holding you in place)? Wouldn't you start to ask questions when your bed was a sleeping bag on the floor? Would you not start to wonder when they had a real toilet in the corner of the bathroom? Why on earth would you not question the fact that the 'science experiments' they wanted you to perform while you were orbiting earth consisted of making balloon animals?

I missed the reveal on Friday. I wished I could have seen how the cadets took the news. Of course they won some big bucks for being made to look like fools. And a day in a flight simulator, a real one this time... in Russia.