With the news of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama signing a monumental production deal with Netflix, you have to wonder if any reality series featuring the Obama family could be in the works. It’s possible, since the deal includes both unscripted and scripted content.
Let us imagine the perfect highly manicured yet substantial reality show giving us a unique look into the Obamas’ personal lives. What would it look like? What moments would we love to see on screen? There are so many elements to the Obamas that have become a part of their pop culture appeal, but here are moments we hope we could one day see play out in real time.
The lowdown on Michelle’s hair, makeup and closet
Michelle Obama elevated the role of first lady through her humanitarian efforts, but she also set the bar for first lady style through her hair, makeup and fashion. She joined the ranks of Jackie Kennedy, and rightly so; she expertly matched affordable and high-end designer pieces, making her style accessible and aspirational. Her makeup and hair similarly evoked an adherence to classic elegance.
It’d be cool to see Michelle take us through her daily hair and makeup routine, from what types of hair products she uses to her favorite brands of foundation and lipstick. Couple that with a walk-through of her (certainly) massive closet, complete with tips on how she finds the best dresses to show off her killer upper arms (plus info on the types of workouts she does to get those upper arms), and you have a recipe for reality show success.
Barack being a cheesy dad
Aside from being president, nothing seemed to give Barack greater joy than being an embarrassing dad. From his dad jeans to his corny jokes, he constantly had Sasha and Malia laughing him off in the way only long-suffering kids can who love their goofy dad. Remember the looks and half-hearted chuckles they gave him when he tried to crack a turkey joke during the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardons? I’m sure you do.
Sure, since he’s been relieved of his duties as president, he has upped his style game, ditching the dad jeans for jeans that are actually svelte and modern, but certainly the goofy dad charm still remains, as well as his attempts to still treat his young adult daughters like little kids who are still amused by ridiculous jokes. It’s not like we have the greatest father holding down the presidency right now; it’d be nice to see some actual fatherhood from an American dignitary again.
Sasha and Malia being the coolest teens
Sasha and Malia will go down in history as the coolest kids who ever graced the White House. They were respectful, studious and never got into any trouble (because if getting caught at Lollapalooza is considered “trouble,” then we’re setting an extremely low bar for what bad behavior actually is). Now, they’re set to take on the world with Malia in school at Harvard and Sasha hanging out with Cardi B and Offset.
While there most certainly might be restrictions on how much the Obamas would want cameras following their kids, it would be so interesting to get to know Sasha and Malia on a different level than first daughters. They’re people and unwitting political figures, and it would be cool to know what makes them tick, what annoys them and what they love, as well as what type of stamp they plan on putting on the world.
Obama family vacations
After the Obamas left the White House, we were all privy to their lavish international vacation, leading to tons of memes and reaction posts about America being like a jilted person seeing their ex flourish. Even though we were happy for them–finally they were able to get a well-deserved rest!–we were also devastated because they weren’t running the country anymore and we couldn’t go on vacation with them.
But with a reality show, we could! We could vicariously traipse through Italy, live it up on Richard Branson’s private island and visit Hawaii every Christmas (as shown in the photo above) all thanks to a well-placed camera and sound crew. Then we, too, could escape our current American nightmare if only for an hour-long episode.
Michelle and Barack inspiring young hopefuls
One of the chief missions the Obamas hope to accomplish with their production deal is to inspire viewers by showcasing the lives of others. Moving the country forward is still one of their core tenets, regardless of whether they’re in the White House. It would only be fair, if the Obamas decided to have a reality series, to showcase how they inspire others by sharing themselves.
A series full of the Obamas meeting youth groups, community organizers and neighborhood presidents looking to make a difference in their communities would be more than beneficial to bring some hope back to the nation. By seeing the Obamas make conscious efforts to reinvigorate those who have boots on the ground, it might give us viewers a bit of inspiration to do our part as well.
The continuing adventures of Barack and Joe
If there’s one inexhaustible meme from the Obama Presidency, it’s the memefied relationship between Barack and his vice president Joe Biden. In real life, they are close friends. On the internet, though, Barack is constantly trying to hold Joe back from doing something ridiculous. The relationship and the made-up dynamics are so entrenched in pop culture that an adult cartoon show featuring their younger selves is in the works.
Biden, or “Uncle Joe” as the internet calls him, would have to make an appearance on this theoretical reality show. The only way it’d work is if his throughline positioned him as that classic sitcom guy who lives next door and always comes over or somehow has an input in the lives of the main characters. Each time he’d come on the screen, the audience would react, “Oh boy, what’s Joe got up his sleeve this time?” It’d be great.
Of course, this is what could happen if the Obamas ever agreed to a reality show. We don’t know if they’d ever submit themselves to such a thing, but we sure can dream.
