Thank you to everyone who chimed in on yesterday's post! I definitely felt better after reading your comments. And after some wine, of course.So... it's Friday! I'm brain-dead from editing! And I'm warning you that this post has nothing to do with writing. It's all about the wonderful world of reality TV.
I know not everyone shares my enthusiasm; I've been accused by my darling husband of turning into a Roman spectator at the Coliseum, calling for blood and gore. There is that voyeuristic element, yes, but even more I love the false drama, the contrived conflicts and the hideous music. I revel in its corny glory... and in the fact it calls itself' 'reality'!
And who couldn't love contestants who claim 'my first word wasn't mummy, it was money', as on a recent episode of the UK Apprentice? Or Simon Cowell's lovely lovely shiny white teeth and oh-so-sexy chest hair on the X-Factor?
Friends and family, I admit it. I'm a reality telly addict, and I'm not ashamed. Any others out there care to profess their love?
(Blogsplash up to 316 now! Yay! See the list and sign up here!)
ha ha did u watch x factor a few years back when one of the rejects was a little old lady that came back to cut Simon down to size? And then in another interview she say's in her shaky voice "he doesn't even have his own teeth"
ReplyDeleteReality TV can be gold, hilarious gold.
I like some reality shows, especially Survivor and Amazing Race.
ReplyDeletethe DVR has helped so much w/my TV addiction--now I can control it/get it the moment I want... :D But I still can't do reality TV. I know, I should relax and let it be. Let Be be the finale of Seem... lol! ;p
ReplyDeleteI love Big Brother, though this year was boooring as heck. I had to write a blog for it and eventually came up short. Not good. I used to watch so much reality tv, but I have to say, perhaps I've gotten over all that. Oh noes! Maybe I'm getting old. Dammit.
ReplyDeleteI knew there were other reality-show addicts out there!
ReplyDeleteJoanna - I do remember that episode. Hilarious!
I'm an addict through and through. My favorite channel is Bravo with all the trash reality TV I can't ever get enough!!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to know I'm not the only one out there with the addiction!
As you said on my blog, it's all research ;-)
ReplyDelete'the hideous music' - hee! I might be the voice of dissent here - I'm not keen on reality TV. It's that combination of desperation and greed that gets me, although that same thing is what makes it impossible to turn off once it has caught my eye.
ReplyDeleteLovely meeting you the other day, too! Had such fun. :)
I can't seem to get into reality TV. My favorite shows on TV are Castle, Bones and NCIS so I guess I go for the gruesome shows. LOL
ReplyDeleteMason
Thoughts in Progress
I want to be a Real Housewife.
ReplyDeleteI love the X factor (probably told you that before) and others. I don't know why they're so addictive.
ReplyDeleteCD
I used to watch BB and X-factor, got bored and then got caught up with Strictly and now I like Autumnwatch - oh that is SOOOOOOO reality tv, thankee muchlee!!!!LOL!
ReplyDeleteYay nearly 400 blogsplash people!! yay!!!!!
take care
x
Haven't watched much reality TV lately, but was addicted to Fear Factor just to see people eat gross things.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, I'm definitely a fan of television and reality shows. I love everything from Survivor to the cop dramas to Desperate Housewives. If I would give up TV, I'd be a much more prolific writer.
ReplyDeleteI've been known to escape my own reality by enjoying others. I'm not ashamed!
ReplyDeleteYep, I have a crush on a few reality TV shows. I'm addicted to Survivor and Top Chef. I also watch Next Foodnetwork Star and Design Star when they're on. =)
ReplyDeleteI watch Idol. Last year was a letdown though.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a telly addict. In fact, since my daughter and I canceled out DirecTV, we don't miss it at all! (We do Netflix, two movies at a time. We love this.)
ReplyDeleteBut there are times when I feel out of touch with writers, etc. who watch reality TV and I don't know what they're talking about. Don't know if there's anyone else out there or not who are rowing in the same boat as my daughter and I??! That is, who have given up TV (with Internet you can get the news and the weather, so why, I told my daughter, should we pay $66 a month).
Ann
I think most shows kind of fizzle out after a few seasons. They always seem to be the best in the first few seasons.
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone, for chiming in!
I don't really watch Reality tv except for American Idol and sometimes Project Runway. So maybe it's the creative aspect that draws me in.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say I'm an addict but if I have the time and it's on I enjoy watching it. I love the wedding ones and Ultimate cake off and ace of cakes.
ReplyDeleteI watch a few shows too: Top Chef, LA Ink, Project Runway, Hells Kitchen, and Flipping Out.
ReplyDeleteThough I complain about it, I always end up watching American Idol. Now that The X Factor is coming to the States, I have a feeling I'll end up watching that as well.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch any reality shows outside of So You Think You Can Dance. That's it.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch reality show I'm afraid. I hardly get to watch TV at all!
ReplyDeleteDon't know if I'm an addict, but I do watch reality shows. Survivor, Amazing Race. I've been catching a little of The Apprentice but it's a bit contrived. Luckily for me, I can't get cable so I don't even see all the ones out there.
ReplyDeleteOmg tell me about it! I LOVE X factor, but honestly, it was so unfair! Louis was there on all auditions and he got the crappiest group! I like Simon, but I just love Louis, he's so adorable and gay...In both senses!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a television addict... I'm down to watching one show a week regularly (Castle, of course)
ReplyDeleteHow anyone can put up with watching Simon Cowell is beyond me....
Reality TV is my guilty pleasure. I watch the Bachelor and Bachelorette series, and used to watch American Idol and Dancing With The Stars. The drama makes these shows addictive!
ReplyDeleteHa Talli, nice to have some light relief and reality TV fits the bill nicely. We have our own version of Simon Cowell in Oz, he's called Karl Sandilands and he's always in hot water.
ReplyDeleteHe's currently 1 of 3 judges on our version of X-Factor which is blowing me away with the excess of talent. The other 2 judges are Ronan Keating (the DOLL!) and Natalie Imbruglia (I'm not looking up that spelling!) They bounce nicely off each other.
Ha, what's my point? Reality TV has its place and it's probably all our TV channels can afford these days, ha ha..:)
I love reality shows such as X Factor and Britains Got Talent.
ReplyDeleteBecause you see raw talent, the lucky ones at the end of the competition are established singers or whatever else they may do.I always remember Susuan Boyle make her first audition how everyone laughed, but she had the last laugh she has the most wonderful voice so she has had a few knocks along the way but it was her who sang in front of the Pope recently.
Yvonne.
GAK. Sorry, just can't get into "reality" tv....
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I would watch Survivor and The Amazing Race, and I would HATE it when I missed an episode. Now the only reality shows I watch are whatever my mom watches, which mainly involves super-idiotic twenty/thirty-somethings who like to drink and party and fight about the most trivial things. But it's pretty damn funny!
ReplyDeleteReality TV, I haven't been bitten by that bug. Though I'm a sucker for Castle, The Closer, Burn Notice, and House. And I loved 24. Still mourning that it's not on anymore.
ReplyDeleteGuess I'm more attracted to plots and fictional characters.
Can we still be friends? :}
Total TV addict here! Reality, scripted... I love it all. I'd probably get a whole lot more writing done if the Food Network didn't exist! Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteMy family celebrates American Idol each and every time it's on. We never know how many people will show up at our house on AI nights. It might be 5 or it might be 15. For the final show we rent a hall and have a big party with drinks and dinner. We've also gone to MANY tapings. We have a friend who is one of the bodyguards for the contestants and one of my girls goes to the after party after the finals ever year. In answer to your quesion. NO....LOL
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see I'm not the only addict! Those who aren't well... I guess we can still be friends! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd what is the 'Castle'?
I don't watch tons of reality tv - but I love So You Think You Can Dance (Canadian & US versions) and American/Canadian Idol :)
ReplyDeleteI have to say I don't normally watch much TV, but I saw the first episode of the Apprentice, with the sausages, and thought it hilarious. Were those people real? I bet I'll not be able to resist Episode 2 ... And as for the X-factor. It's my one vice. Okay, okay, ONE of my VICES.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen The X Factor but am looking forward to it. I saw Simon on American Idol just about every season. Loved his sarcasm.
ReplyDeleteLike Carol Kilgore, I also watch The Amazing Race.
Used to watch Survivor but got bored w/ it several seasons ago as it was always the same thing.
Well, thanks to Twitter, I'm "watching" a lot of reality TV by proxy nowadays, if not in reality. I just don't get the appeal. Sorry! I think we might have to agree to disagree on this one... and remember that we'll always have our shared love of music!
ReplyDeleteThe only shows I'm dedicated to these days are mostly reality - the one that kicked the trend into high gear: Survivor, the best one out there: Amazing Race, and my guilty pleasure...The Bachelor! So you better believe that I think your book sounds brilliant and will happily talk it up at my blog and in "reality.: :)
ReplyDeleteI like some reality TV shows - The X-Factor, The Apprenctice and Project Runway - but not Big brother!
ReplyDeleteWell, I think I may be a lone voice here, but, no, I can't stand any of them!
ReplyDeleteHi Talli,
ReplyDeleteI'm not too crazy about reality TV shows but I admit, I watch two of them: Project Runway (I love to see what designs they come up with) and So you think you can dance (I love dancing!).
Thank goodness I've not become a junkie and get hooked on other shows. I think two is more than enough for me.
Ah yes, reality shows. Watched Dancing with the Stars for the first time this year and, my oh my, the sequins, the lights, the dancing... so addicting.
ReplyDeleteI have little to say about television in general as I don't imbibe - too busy frying my brain on other pastimes to keep up with tele.
ReplyDeleteI must admit, Talli, that reality TV really doesn't do it for me at all, I love the totally as far from reality as its possible to get - ER,Greys,Private Practice, Eureka, Stargate (but not SG Universe, that's too much like reality for me), Dr Who etc etc. I guess I'm just an unreality addict!
ReplyDeleteYou can mock and abuse all the reality TV shows as much as you like but I won't have a word said against Strictly Come Dancing. It's my autumn/winter indulgence.
ReplyDeleteI've got hooked on X-Factor because I just had to see who this Simon Cowell was and why you keep talking about him. I'm still trying to work that one out though.
ReplyDeleteGood God, I think the 'mommy/money' quote cracked me up for about fifteen minutes when I watched the episode. It's amazing how much you love to hate most of the contestants on The Apprentice!
ReplyDeleteWho's got your vote for X Factor? I'm rooting for Matt, he's lovely!
UK sounds like it has some interesting Reality Shows. I must admit, I kind of like The Bachelor/Bachelorette, the king/queen's of made-up drama!
ReplyDeleteHi Talli .. 'fraid not! The thought appals me?! Enjoy it though .. it certainly provides plots, story lines etc and sentences and phrase we'd never normally hear ... Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteHi Talli .. 'fraid not! The thought appals me?! Enjoy it though .. it certainly provides plots, story lines etc and sentences and phrase we'd never normally hear ... Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI can't stand reality TV (can't even watch The Apprentice as I want to shoot them all in the face)*. But I WILL admit to watching the first couple of episodes of X Factor just to see people make complete prats of themselves. After that, I get bored.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do enjoy Supernanny, if that counts?
*Not literally. I just like to think about it. Before a SWAT team descends on my house or anything, 'kay?