Tuesday, August 15, 2006

It IS Reality. I Swear!!


After much thought and angst, I have decided to come clean and air out my dirty, dirty secret. This was not an easy decision to make as I am pretty sure that some people will mock me.
I am a reality show junkie. There. I said it. Phew...that wasn't so bad.
Back in 1992 (the year I graduated high school) a new genre of teen/young adult angst drama was born. MTV's The Real World.
This was a new style of show based off of cameras rolling 24/7 and recording unscripted situations. I was totally hooked.
I watched The Real World every season. Then Road Rules debuted. Another reality show that I was hooked on. My favorite Road Ruler is still Devon (Season 2) who was on the cast with Timmy and Emily. He never did anything else for MTV that I ever saw, but he was and will forever be my favorite Road Ruler.
Thus began my slide into the pit of Reality TV Junkie. If it is reality TV, chances are I have heard about it, at least watched one episode or am a regular viewer.
Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy scripted TV as well, but there is something about the train wreck mentality of reality TV that I can't stop watching.
My current addictions are Big Brother 7: All Stars, Project Runway & Treasure Hunters.
I will admit to watching The Bachelor(ette), Hell's Kitchen, Beauty & The Geek , Average Joe (1 & 2), Joe Millionaire, Survivor, The Mole, Temptation Island,America's Next Top Model, American Idol, Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance , American Inventor, Flavor of Love (1st Season), Strange Love, Amish In The City, The Amazing Race, The 70's House, 8th & Ocean, Miami Ink, My Fair Brady, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, The Newlyweds , Nanny 911, Supernanny, My Super Sweet 16, The Osbornes, Blow Out, Boy Meets Boy, Breaking Bonaduce, The Restaurant, The Swan, Extreme Makeover (including the home edition), Surreal Life, Tommy Lee Goes To College, Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List, Who's Your Daddy, What Not To Wear, Last Comic Standing, Wife Swap, The Will, The Littlest Groom etc,etc,etc.
Some of these were horrible and I only watched a couple of episodes. Others I loved, but are no longer on the air. Some, I liked initally, but got bored with the same thing over and over again.
The absolute worst reality show that I have ever watched was not Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire as many would claim. The worst show that I have ever seen is still unfortunately on the air. It is My Super Sweet 16 on MTV. I have never seen more spoiled, self-centered, bratty teenagers in my entire life. And that is saying a lot. It is like Mean Girls come to life but with rich parents who spoil them so much that I literally want to gag.
I know that I am not the only one out there who is a reality TV show junkie. I certainly didn't coin that phrase.
Do you love or hate reality TV? If you love it, what are you addicted to?

7 comments:

Rachel Heather said...

I love some reality TV!!

ok (about to hang my head in shame)

Americas Next Top Model

Project Runway

American Idol

Real World

Girls Next Door

Life on D List

hmmmm - there is more gotta think

:)

Anonymous said...

Confession is good for the soul, so here goes...

Here are the ones I watch:

Big Brother All-Stars
Treasure Hunters
Project Runway

And sometimes:
Hell's Kitchen
Survivor

So I have joined the circle of shame with you all. Lol.

minijonb said...

I grew up on old skool Real World and Road Rules, so the recent crop of shows on MTV doesn't compare. Most other reality shows don't intrest me that much, with the exception of what's on Bravo. Project Runway is always good. Does Queer Eye for the Straight Guy qualify as a reality show?

Rachel said...

Rach~ I forgot to include Girls Next Door. I have seen that a couple of times.
How freakin' funny is Life On The D List? I love that show but it is never on when I think it is.
FG~ Ha Ha... I new all about those shows. Cause we sometimes watch the together. Remember when you called me because Janelle won the power of veto? Yeah, that was good times right there.
MJB~ Love Project Runway. For some reason I have been a bit busy on Wednesdays so I have been missing it. Gee...wonder what I am doing?
Queer Eye would definitely qualify. Did you ever see the spin-off Queer Eye for the Straight Girl? It had the token lesbian and 3 or 4 gay men. Yeah.. it pretty much sucked.

Thomas said...

Where this cartoon come from? It is really good.

Rachel said...

Thomas ~ I stole it off the web. I did a google photo search for reality TV and it popped up. Laughed my butt off and put it on my blog.

Erica said...

I am glad I am not the only one! Here goes...

Big Brother
The Amazing Race
The Real World
American Next Top Model
Bachelor
Temptation Island
Ultimate Love Test

:)