I haven’t stepped into the confessional on this blog in a while, so I figured it was about time. It’s good for the soul, right?
Although I refuse to pay for cable, I still watch television. That is not the secret since I’ve mentioned it before (including buying an antennae to watch football). What has been a secret up to now is my penchant for reality television. Wait! Not all reality television. On the way to my snowy adventure, the guy in the seat ahead of mine paid to watch television and had on one of the Real Housewives show. Goodness gracious! I didn’t have any sound and could still tell that they weren’t saying a single nice thing. Yuck!
No, my ultimate guilty pleasure is watching reality competition shows. Not the singing ones, though. I can hear myself sing off-key any time I want; I don’t need to tune in to listen to others do that. On the other hand, Biggest Loser, Project Runway, Next Food Network Star: Love them! I’m going through withdrawals as my favorite one won’t start back up again until February.
I didn’t get into The Amazing Race until four years ago. Now I am can’t wait for the next episode. There was point when I got on a mental kick about being a contestant (obviously this is pre-knee injury).
For those of you who know us, wouldn’t Kurt and I make excellent contestants on this show? We work really well together, yet we are not afraid to speak our minds … loudly. We once were asked to leave the dance floor during a training session because our argument was upsetting some of the dance students. Reality shows want drama, and we could have provided that!
So I was mentally going through what our audition video would look like (before consulting Kurt about any of this because I’m all about putting carts before horses), when I realized that visas would be required with all that international travel, and I wondered if there were citizenship requirements for contestants. I looked through the rules, and sure enough it was there: Open to US citizens only. Hmmmm. In my last ditch effort to keep my dream alive, I called Kurt, and here was our entire conversation:
Ring.
“Yes?”
“Did you ever get US Citizenship?”
“No.”
“Damn!”
“Do I want to know?”
“No. Bye.”
Click.
Since neither of us are into small talk, it was fine for both of us, but disappointing to me and probably confusing to him.
I don’t have the talent to be on any of my other favorites, nor do I have 100+ pounds to lose, so I guess I will have to be satisfied watching these shows instead of being on them.
What are your guilty pleasure television shows? or Do you have friends with whom you have shorthand conversations with no offense taken?
Grown Up, Now What? 
Oh, my, I love Project Runway, Top Chef, Amazing Race, Survivor, and yes…The Real Housewives. They are my guilty pleasures. Almost everyone I know denies watching reality TV, but how are the ratings so high? Most people must be watching but are afraid to admit it. I’ll admit it (although I’m still a little embarrassed.)
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You are so right: Networks wouldn’t continue making them if they didn’t get great ratings, AND they wouldn’t get great ratings if no one was watching them! People aren’t all as willing to fess up as we are. I think networks understand that they are producing guilty pleasures, and so longer as viewers are there (and in the right demographics), they are going to continue.
[It’s nice to know I’m not alone in my vice!]
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Why is your blog telling me I’m a spammer? 😦
Not big TV watchers here, but my serious guilty pleasure is Food Network. I could watched Chopped or Iron Chef or Restaurant Impossible or Next Food Network Star forever. Yes, I could.
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I will have to sit my blog down and give a good talking to! 😦 Thank you for your persistence in getting your response up!
I love the Next Food Network Star! This season doesn’t seem to have any sensational standouts like some of the previous seasons, although the bbq guy does seem pretty cool.
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Although I’ve never been on the amazing race, I think it would be the kind of show I’d like. It’s all about finding things and solving clues, isn’t it? That’s what I get out of it.
One show I want to go on in Jeopardy. I tried out for it once. When they came to Minneapolis, I went to the Mall of America and waited in line for two hours to take a five minute test. I passed that and went to another location the next day to take an hour long quiz. Unfortunately I got kicked out at that point. I was so mad since the next step was to go onto a mock up version of the game show. It’s been my goal ever since to get back on the show.
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The Amazing Race does involve people having to figure out where they are going and there are challenges – either mental or physical – at every stage of the race. I rather like it.
Congratulations on making it past the first round for Jeopardy auditions. I didn’t realize it was such an elaborate process. You always could practice and go try out again. That would be so cool to be on the show.
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Project Runway, Cake Boss and DC Cupcakes. Oh and House Hunters International.
Shorthand conversations? One of my daughters. No one else. I come from a family of talkers, talkers, talkers. Which is trying for me as I don’t mind silence now and then.
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We really must be secretly related somehow, Barbara! Not only do we share a guilty pleasure, but I also love having quiet time. How wonderful!
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What a great guilty pleasure! Trashy tv is definitely one of mine…keeping up with the kardashians, made in chelsea, catfish, the real housewives… is like a form of meditation for me ;P
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It’s so nice to see a wide variety of people confessing to watch these shows! Sometimes we just need to turn our minds off, and they definitely offer us that opportunity.
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Project Runway is must see TV for me, and I love Amazing Race and Survivor too, but I would not want to be on any of them. It looks really difficult to be a contestant on one of these shows, and I wouldn’t last long.
I even get a kick out of watching my kids’ Total Drama Island, a cartoon version of Survivor. I might not mind being on that one. 🙂
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A cartoon reality show: What a great concept! That would be fun.
So many of these shows do look like they’d be past my ability level. I don’t do well when sleep deprived, and I need a certain level of physical comforts. Sounds like we might be in the same category there..
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