Reality Shows!

My Guilty Pleasures – Reality Shows!

Now hold up! Regardless of the title of this post, I am not about to expose all my guilty pleasures. First of all, that would be waaaaay too many and take far more space than I have here. Secondly, ya’ll don’t want to see some of that stuff anyway. Therapy would send you (and me via your lawsuit) into the poor house.

But as television goes, however, I am willing to divulge my guilty pleasures. I, dear readers, love drama. Oh, not the kind of drama you see on Law and Order. Naw, the scripted drama just doesn’t cut it. I want, I demand, I crave reality shows.

Yep, I’m one of those people. From Big Brother to all the Housewives spin-offs, I love watching real people be real. I’m not above saying how much I adored watching Nene and Kim (Housewives of Atlanta) go at it on the bus. I will not deny how much I gasp (excitedly) to see Abby Lee (Dance Moms) yell at the kids and their moms. I almost salivate when Jerseylicious comes on. Not only because I’m eating one of my other guilty pleasures─hot buttered popcorn with melted cheese on top─but because I am a reality show junkie.

But why do I lust after shows like Most Eligible Dallas and Flipping Out? How did this happen? Like many of you, I grew up watching great classic shows like I Love Lucy and Laverne and Shirley. I loved the antics of sitcoms and how everything was tied up into a neat little package in thirty minutes. I loved that everyone got along─at least at the end. I wanted to be just like Lucy.

No one ever thought of following “average” people before that show. Why should they have? What did normal, every-day people do that we didn’t all do day in and day out? How interesting could a show about my neighbors be? A reality show would’ve been laughed off the network. And why do we now seek confrontation? Did we finally grow tired of “nice” shows and developed the need to feed the darker side of ourselves? Has the darker side of me been released?

I’m not sure how reality television came about. Did it start with Survivor and then move on to the seamier side of life? Did showing viewers a new kind of game show start us down this road? Is watching reality television a legal way to snoop on your neighbors? I haven’t got a clue.

And frankly, my dears, I don’t give a damn (Sorry. I couldn’t resist) why I like these shows so much. I don’t care if some people think I’m crazy. I don’t care that my husband won’t stay in the same room when I’m watching Theresa flip a table. The only thing I really care about is that I’m not anything like the people on these shows. And you know what? I thank my lucky stars for it!

So? What about you? Come on out of hiding and ’fess up. Are you a reality show junkie too?