I was quite late to the party in regards to the show itself, probably because the title put me off and I thought that it may be overtly mawkish or patronising. I caught up on quite a few episodes via Channel 4's All4 online service and concentrated on the autistic participants. I felt that it was quite a good overview of how difficult people find seeking love and relationships.
As the series rolled on I started to get a bit bored with it. There seemed to be far too much emphasis on certain individuals. One guy, Richard, who has Asperger's, seemed funny at first with his inability to travel more than five miles outside of his comfort zone to meet a potential date and uttering statements about 'fucking Kent' when told of a lady's home location. His behaviour just came across as rude and thoughtless on dates - he refused to purchase any food in the pub, but stole chips off of the lady's plate after distracting her. He also talked to an eastern European lass about Chernobyl, which came across as both crass and insensitive.
The girl with the brightly coloured hair's stimming onscreen was an uncomfortable watch, ditto her need to force hugs from people. Yes, as an Aspergian I do display certain behaviours, but I wouldn't want these magnified on TV for the viewers' entertainment.
So, I won't be watching any further episodes of The Undateables, but that's my decision. Others may take great comfort from it, but I do have a few reservations about some of the dating agencies they feature, but I won't comment further on this, lest I get myself into legal difficulties.
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