Netflix’s hidden gem is the solution to reality TV’s problems-Ruth Lawes-Entertainment – Metro

Netflix’s The Parisian Agency is the best reality TV show out there (Picture: Netflix)

A luxury property programme focused on the 1% doesn’t exactly sell itself as the cure for all of reality TV’s ills, but Netflix’s hidden gem The Parisian Agency is exactly that.

The premise is not groundbreaking: The show follows Sandrine and Olivier Kretz, founders of estate agency Kretz Family Real Estate, and their employees, who are mainly their grown up children.

Yet, The Parisian Agency is the most refreshing reality show on TV. It completely rips up the rule book – and is all the better for it.

Let’s take the show it was based on, Selling Sunset, which hasn’t shone as brightly as it did when it became a runaway hit in lockdown.

In its heyday, viewers were not tuning in for the property porn as much as to watch the high camp drama unfurl between the agency’s female realtors.

Quinn exited Selling Sunset after she was ostracised from the rest of the cast (Picture: Netflix)

Mostly involving Selling Sunset’s pantomime villain Christine Quinn, the arguments were low stakes and silly, usually amounting to a few catty asides.

But the show got plain nasty just a few years later. It was distressing to watch the women gang up on and ostracise Quinn. Clearly, she also felt uncomfortable as, despite being the breakout star, she quit the show that made her name and The Oppenheim Group agency shortly afterwards.

I also needed a break from the show; women being pitted against each other for the sake of entertainment needs to be a thing of the past.

Thankfully, there’s none of that in The Parisian Agency. Perhaps you could criticise the show for the lack of women, full stop; they mainly appear as side characters in the shape of various girlfriends and wives. But perhaps that can’t be entirely helped.

Equipping the four Kretz children to eventually take over the family firm as Sandrine and Olivier head towards retirement is a running narrative throughout the show and, well, they are all male. But the two main women Sandrine, and her mum Majo, are absolute scene stealers.

Sandrine, with her warm maternal charm and penchant for tassel T-shirts, is one of the best agents, and most level-headed members of the family.

And arguably, the breakout star is the grandmother, Majo, who loves to regale stories of summer flings with Spanish men and act as a sounding board when her grandsons come to her with work frustrations. These two women hold the family, and the show, together.

The family (almost) never argue, freeing The Parisian Agency of another tired reality TV trope. The biggest ‘upset’ among the family was when Valentin was contemplating a move to New York and, even then, that was only because they would miss seeing him every day.

If anything, it was actually sweet, as drama goes. Instead, they offer us rare glimpses into their personal lives and the struggles they face. Valentin’s openness about him and his wife’s Charina’s difficulty conceiving a second child felt refreshingly honest and vulnerable for a reality TV show.

It was uncomfortable watching the physical fight on The Kardashians (Picture: Disney Plus)

Too often, the genre relies on huge screaming matches (see basically any episode of Real Housewives) and sometimes physical violence. It’s telling that the most viral clip from The Kardashians in recent years was the slapping match between Kourtney and Kim Kardashian.

Frankly, it’s barbaric to derive any enjoyment from punching matches. Instead, we should encourage the commissioning of shows like The Parisian Agency, where the only head-butting is over house price negotiations.

It’s also refreshing to watch non-influencer types on a reality TV show. In fact, it feels like Majo – the 90-year-old – is the one who craves fame the most after declaring this season that she’s always wanted to be an actress.

Reality TV needs to learn from the wholesome Kretz family on The Parisian Agency (Picture: Netflix)

There’s no agenda to push a certain ‘look’ on viewers, either. Yes, the sons are handsome, but it’s refreshing that their beauty is natural. There’s no Instagram-face, no steroids, no veneers in sight.

But one of the main things that puts it into a whole different league to other property shows is that it actually focuses on property.

Not only that, but the houses and apartments are actually nice. My jaw dropped when they looked around a 30-room chateau in Sologne. You know it’s a magnificent and rare property when the price tag is ‘confidential.’

Unlike sister show Buying London, all the homes are elegantly and tastefully decorated and, crucially, do not resemble the interior of a Victorian hotel in a fading British seaside resort.

Plus, if you get bored by the plentiful chic Parisian apartments, the family also regularly travel abroad, from Italy’s Lake Como to Brazil, to eye up more breathtakingly beautiful homes.

My particular favourite was Mel Gibson’s former Costa Rican abode, perched high in the jungle but still with views over a turquoise ocean.

I have binge-watched The Parisian Agency’s seasons in one or two evenings. It proves reality TV doesn’t need fights, tension between women or unrealistic casts to be an enjoyable watch.

They do need legitimate property porn, though. And perhaps a dose of French charm also wouldn’t go amiss.

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