Light-Hearted Summer Show is Worthy of a Marathon
TVFirstLook
The title of Syfy's new reality show Collection Intervention (10pm) may give the impression that it's in the same TV family as A&E's Hoarders, where real people's lives are overtaken by the filth they live in.
While Hoarders is a good show, it's also a decidedly gloomy show. Collection Intervention, on the other hand, is a light, fun summer series that makes you want to plop down on the couch and watch (obsessively?) for an entire weekend.
Alas, so far, there's only one episode of Collection Intervention, which kicks off its limited run tonight.
On the show, Elyse Luray from PBS's super-great History Detectives helps obsessive collectors to, well, toss the garbage and unearth the valuable stuff.
These obsessive collectors veer toward the nutty, but in a fun way, not in a depressing "help is on the way" way.
Tonight, Elyse meets up with two California couples. One of these couples - Garet and Consetta - live in a house filled to capacity with Star Wars memorabilia. Garet's into it, but Consetta has serious emotional attachments to Yoda and Co.
Elyse intervenes, gently, as she helps Consetta pick through the piles of Star Wars items that have real value - financial or emotional - and separates it from collectibles that eventually fetch a few Gs at auction.
Elyse knows what she's doing. Among other accomplishments, Elyse was once Head of the Popular Arts department at Christie's auction house.
The other couple, Lolly and Mark, are visibly struggling to deal with Mark's Catwoman collection. He spends most of their money to beef up his collection, which has overtaken their garage and, as it turns out, isn't worth much.
Collection Intervention is the type of show that's easy to watch. It's fun and informative without being draining or challenging.
Its faults, and they are minor, have mostly to do with filling up an hour of programming with what feels like 45 minutes of good content. And Elyse sometimes breathlessly shouts more than she talks.
But, no matter, Collection Intervention is entertaining. Now, if Syfy can just roll out a bunch more episodes for a weekend marathon, that would be really good.
I completely agree. Collection Intervention may have some similarities with Hoarders, but it has a completely different feel to it. I actually hadn’t even heard of it until one of my coworkers at Dish told me about it, saying, “You think I’m bad? Check this out…” So I went to Dishonline(dot)com last night and streamed it for free. I think Mark could’ve ended up being the depressing kind of collector/hoarder if his behavior continued to escalate, but hopefully being on this show was exactly what he needed to turn things around.
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