Naabrist parem

So last year, or the year before, whenever it was, one of the commercial channels decided to do its own version of The Block. (No idea what it might have been called in the UK, US or elsewhere, or indeed whether they even had their own versions; it's the show where four couples each get one flat in a block to do all the interior work on, one room each week, with the best design and craftsmanship being rewarded etc etc.) Indicative of the prevailing mindset in these parts of late, the Estonian version was not called Korter ('The Apartment') or something equally innocuous, but Naabrist Parem: 'Better Than The Neighbours'. And as if the name didn't make it clear enough, check out the logo.


Touché, the point of the show is to be better than your neighbours: it is a competition, after all, even if it does come down to personal taste. Ironically, but predictably, the four young couples who took part were far too nice to each other to really give the twist they were trying to put on the show any teeth, which is perhaps why the producers resorted to new television lows to inject some tension into proceedings.

I recall* the winners of one challenge being given free rein to go into the other three couples' flats and take anything they liked for their own flat - not for themselves, I hasten to add, and you shall shortly see why - whether that be the $2 Reject Shop corn cob holders in the kitchen drawer or the $10,000 lounge suite in the open-plan living room (not that there's any other type in Estonia... but don't get me started about local architecture). The three losing couples were horrified at the idea, and the winning couple suitably abashed, although in the spirit of the game they went along with it. And who can blame them? Well, in fact, lots of people: not blaming them, as such, but the producers. Because what they took from one of the flats was a brand new widescreen TV which had been given to the unfortunate losing couple who were soon to part with it by the young lady's family completely outside the bounds of the show. But rules were rules, and the TV was in the flat, and what was in the flat was up for grabs. And so they lost it.

The other novelty in particular that I remember was introduced in the final episode, where it came to public televoting to decide the winner. Or rather it didn't. You see, the producers decided that the best thing to do would be to have the audience vote against the couples on the show, ostensibly as if to say, "theirs is the flat we like the least". Naturally, it didn't turn out that way: the ones who were voted off first arguably had the best taste in - and talent for - interior design. They were also the 'foreigners', being the only couple from outside of Tallinn, where the show was made. (Whether this had any influence on the voting I wouldn't like to speculate.) After this tasteless early approach to deciding the winner, the whole final episode became strangely muted. The couples involved were clearly appalled, and when the winner was finally announced, there was little excitement to be had.

It tells you something about the makers of the show and the people who bothered to pick up their phones and vote for it that (a) jealousy and acrimony, rather than fair but vigorous competition, were actively encouraged; and (b) the couple with the nicest home were sacrificed by the producers, inevitably becoming the target of viewer spite and the first to be struck down. If there were awards for fostering ugly stereotypes, the concept designers on this show would be national champions. Estonians might not be particularly vocal or demonstrative about their feelings, but give them the anonymous medium of technology to hide behind and they will attack someone else's success without a second thought. Some of them, anyway.

The sad fact, of course, is that none of us is really very different.

*vaguely, and possible inaccurately, but still