Sunday 4 November 2012

my love of reality tv

For years, I've been honest about my addiction to reality television, possibly to the point of referring to myself as a "reality tv whore" at times.

It all started with Survivor.  I remember reading about it in a magazine at my grandparents' house one day and thinking "throwing a bunch of people on an island....dumbest idea ever".  But my then-boyfriend and I happened to turn on the first episode and we were HOOKED.

Oh Richard....you were such a jerk....

And then it grew.  American Idol...Big Brother...Amazing Race...The Bachelor...Jersey Shore....The Real Housewives of Pick Any Place...and on and on.

Believe it or not, I do have a line - a point where the show becomes so ridiculous that I can't watch it.  Whatever the show was called where Flava Flav looked for a "wife" was one of those.  Too far.  The Apprentice?  Could never watch it.  The one that's on right now with the ex-wives of rock stars?  Nope.  Too much.

I am fully aware that most of these shows are not actual "reality"; that they have writers and storylines.  But that doesn't stop or hinder my addiction in any way.  And even better, there is almost always one playing on some channel (possibly in repeats) on tv; so any time I need a mindless escape for a bit....I just have to scroll through the guide until I find one.

Maybe reality tv is an addiction that I'll grow out of at some point.  Right now, I'm ready for Jersey Shore to be over, and this summer's season of Big Brother was less than thrilling.  Perhaps this is the start of my moving on and watching "quality" dramas - I still have yet to watch an episode of Mad Men and I'm stuck in the middle of season two of Breaking Bad - or maybe I'll reach the point where I cancel my cable all together.  But the reunion specials for the housewives from New Jersey start airing this week....and I'm pretty excited for that one, so who knows.

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