Fox's MOBBED Brings a Good Concept to Flash Mobs

PICTURE OF THE DAY
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It was only a fluke, a very, very weird fluke, that I chanced to tune into this rather unusual show.


In general I am seduced via email publicity copies to review a show or interview a would-be celebrity and if the plea entices I will schedule a view and maybe a review.

But as follow-up on some show I was notified via moving banner at the bottom of the screen to stay up and watch the brand new and great "MOBBED". A scene showing lots of people dancing and waving arms was offered as tease and I was curious.

According to Fox, where this show is aired but not regularly until after the first of the year if I am to understand, for reasons that satisfied the screening panel, a deserving participant will be appropriately "mobbed".. The show is hosted by Howie

Mandel of America's Got Talent judgeship.

Now about this mobbing phenomena. As I understand it, the concept of mobbing has two possible meanings, one good and one bad. Unruly mobs up to no good can be formed instantly based on a quick means of communication that might involve cell phones or the Internet. The recent car burnings in France and England were supposed to be flash mobs formed quickly to go out and do bad. Even more dangerous, given a grievance, flash mobs can be formed quickly to protest a perceived wrong and, in general, mobbing like this can't possibly be a plus for society.

I have also seen, as have millions of others, that flash mob formed by a choral group where the chorus singers pose as regular mall customers frequenting a food court when they suddenly break out in glorious song, in the case of the You-Tube viral video, "Handal's Messiah".

The really genuine food court shoppers are shocked as they learn that the fellow at the salad bar behind them is a tenor while the lady at the cash register is a lusty soprano. In due course the genuine choral singers are shown all about, up in the alcove, over by the shoe store, holding a mop, as they belt out the tune to the delight and joy of the surprised and impromptu audience.

This show, is, of course, the good kind of mobbed although I still think it's very, very odd.

In the show I watched the person who evidently applied for a mob was a man who'd done some wrong and wanted to make amends to his daughter and his wife. It was never clear what the fellow did or perhaps I missed it what with all the prep for the mob reveal.

The scheme requires that the person, or personS, being mobbed, be somehow tricked into showing up at the "mob scene" by a believable lie. The show I saw had the daughter showing up for some kind of father-daughter type of event. At one point her father phones her and tells her he can't attend. Of course the father is going to attend, he's not only going to attend, he's bringing a mob with him!

The girl's mother was also surprised in that she'd been told that this whole thing was being set up only for the daughter but it included her mother….ie the guy begging for forgiveness via mob.

The show is seeking applicants and if you're ready to bury the hatchet or ask forgiveness or have some other big surprise that warrants a mob, go to the web site and check it out.

As for the actual mob scene, well it's a mob scene. It's enjoyable enough I suppose though I'm not sure how many I'd want to see before it all got too boring. The viewer is treated to various scenes of the massive preparation required for such a result. And there's always some impending cataclysmic event which might have the whole thing falling through. The threat of massive failure is supposed to hold the viewer's interest but this viewer simply does not believe that an event requiring so many participants and so much planning, not to mention the televised air time, will NOT happen.

Be on the lookout early next year for this new and intriguing reality show. Better yet, go on and apply and mob someone that you love. They'll either love you forever or will never speak to you again.