Mark Dolan is a great comedic host for Balls of Steel, and when it first started, I was intrigued to see him tackling this documentary series. Some may argue that he is similar to Louis Theroux, but I can't see much similarity, and technically, Dolan is more friendly and likes to really get to know the people he meets. Anyway, basically Dolan travels the world to find people with extraordinary talents, bodily oddities and unusual lifestyles, and even some records. People have included World's Tallest Women, World's Smallest Men, World's Fattest Pets, World's Hairiest People, World's Cleveriest Children, World's Most Enhanced Women (with Minka and Kayla Kleevage appearing), World's Largest Families and World's Strongest Children. I always look forward to seeing these programmes. Very good!
2 Reviews
Decent concept, terrible host.
Nathan250427 May 2008
Despite this program being immensely patronising, it does serve its purpose of informing us on the physical extremes of life. We are given a view of the disagreements and causes of certain 'Record Breakers', but most of the time this is drowned out by a vast amount of irritation due to the sheer condescending nature of the host
Mark Dolan.
Viewers are either in stunned silence, open-mouthed and starring at the screen trying to comprehend the idiocy of Dolan, or are screaming "What the hell!?" at the television, hoping the man will hear and cease his quest altogether.
On the plus side, if you are lucky enough to be able to drown out Dolan's voice completely, a fair bit of information is found, and we are introduced to the emotional world of the people behind the records. But then again most of the information can be found on Wikipedia (which Mark even admitted to being his primary source of information in "The Worlds Smallest Man And Me"), which basically discredits the whole program.
Overall, it's a case of fighting your urge to learn of the lives of people (and animals) considered "abnormal", and your urge to get off the sofa, reach into the TV, and promptly strangle Mark Dolan till he tells you with his incredibly uneducated lexis; "Why are you strangling me? Is it because you're upset? Awww."
Viewers are either in stunned silence, open-mouthed and starring at the screen trying to comprehend the idiocy of Dolan, or are screaming "What the hell!?" at the television, hoping the man will hear and cease his quest altogether.
On the plus side, if you are lucky enough to be able to drown out Dolan's voice completely, a fair bit of information is found, and we are introduced to the emotional world of the people behind the records. But then again most of the information can be found on Wikipedia (which Mark even admitted to being his primary source of information in "The Worlds Smallest Man And Me"), which basically discredits the whole program.
Overall, it's a case of fighting your urge to learn of the lives of people (and animals) considered "abnormal", and your urge to get off the sofa, reach into the TV, and promptly strangle Mark Dolan till he tells you with his incredibly uneducated lexis; "Why are you strangling me? Is it because you're upset? Awww."
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