Todd Sampson’s WHY? review: asking what we’re all thinking

Todd Sampson’s mellowed over the years. When the former advertising executive first burst free from the confines of The Gruen Transfer, he was all about pushing himself to the limit. Four seasons of Todd Sampson’s Body Hack saw him travelling the globe getting beat up by MMA fighters, getting beat up by Bollywood stuntmen, getting beat up by Wudang Kung Fu teachers, and getting beat up by Mexican wrestlers.

Episode one of his new series, Todd Sampson’s WHY?, sees him exploring the complexities of unregulated sperm donation. Yes, he’s now tackling a very different kind of beating.

While it may be a little disappointing that Sampson is no longer putting himself on the line, that’s balanced out by the title of his new effort. For some reason ‘WHY?’ is in all-caps, giving the impression of a title that’s being shouted by Dave Hughes. Another strength is that, across the four episodes, he actually talks to some pretty interesting people.

But… why?

Episode one of Todd Sampson’s WHY? is, as mentioned, about the slightly needy and seedy world of Ari, a man who has become one of the most prolific sperm donors in the world, with 164 kids and nine more on the way at time of filming.

The title of the series is simply saying what we’re all thinking. The goal of the series might be to ‘explore the whys of some of the most fascinating people on the planet’ but it’s as much a chance to gawk at some pretty out-there people as an exploration of any deeper themes.

This kind of television, especially on the ABC, has to walk a pretty fine line. On the commercial networks, audiences are on board with a somewhat tabloid approach. Sampson’s last series for Ten, Mirror Mirror, was a reminder that a lot of people are getting rich from telling you you’re not good-looking enough, and that the internet is a great place to visit if you want to feel bad about yourself.

This time around, the approach is a little more restrained. Ari isn’t a threat or a menace; he’s just a guy who really likes fathering kids with strangers. For him, bringing new life into the world is its own reward. Others might have a slightly different take on a man fathering children and couch surfing from one ‘baby mama’ to another. Only five mothers have ever sued him!

Sampson’s new role

The episode is more of a portrait of Ari than a look at the wider world of unregulated sperm donation. After all, if you’re hanging around New York with a man who suddenly announces that one of the women he’s planning to father a child with is ovulating and in the neighbourhood, so they have to go find a public restroom to ‘do the handover’, you’re going to keep the cameras rolling.

Unlike his previous efforts, here Sampson is pushed to the background, an observer rather than a participant. It’s a role that suits him. Having been the focus for so long he has nothing to prove here, and largely plays the role of straight man to Ari’s constant banter and jokes, alongside his female clients more thoughtful takes on what’s going on.

If you’re looking for a drinking game, counting the times Sampson says to the women involved that their child is going to have over 165 siblings is a good place to start. They usually don’t seem all that concerned: it’s something that their child can follow up on later in life if they want (though accidental incest is a concern). And Ari constantly hammers home that he sees it as helping women have their first or second child, not him having his 165th.

Don’t hold out for answers

Future episodes of WHY? see Sampson getting a little more involved. He’s hardly going to do an episode on the world of base jumping without throwing himself off a cliff somewhere. There are also episodes on Doomsday Preppers and the Aetherius Society, a church that believes life on Earth is being guided by aliens.

With a larger group of people to talk to in later episodes, they lose a bit of the focus that makes the first instalment such interesting viewing. It’s basically just two people wandering around New York talking about creating a kind of hyper-extended family – and whatever you might think of Ari, this is a surprisingly compelling half hour of television.

So is he a benefactor, a creepy guy, someone who’s let a weird hobby become part of his identity, or just being a middle child who wants attention and love? There’s no definitive answer on offer here – but in something of a rarity for this kind of show, this isn’t about coming up with firm conclusions. For once, it really is about the friends we made along the way.

Well, that and the quest for a restroom to ejaculate in.

Todd Sampson’s WHY? premieres 24 February on ABC TV and ABC iview.

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