Everybody knows and uses the term "guilty pleasure," but for some reason it's applied to television more than any other form of entertainment. Just kidding, so much TV is crappy, that is the reason. While it's debatable just how valuable the concept of a "guilty pleasure" is (what's there to feel guilty about exactly?), the term does describe a very specific subset of all our TV-watching patterns: Shows we watch despite the full knowledge that they're terrible. And not just terrible in other peoples' opinions, but in OUR opinions, too. Yet we watch these terrible things basically every day while The Wire just chills in our Netflix queue.
So that brings us to today's discussion question: What is the absolute worst thing you watch on a regular basis? Trust me, I know this can be embarrassing to admit in public, so I'll go first!
Syfy Original Movies
It seems like every Saturday night Syfy's poised and ready to waste my time. Whether it's Sharktopus, Morlocks, awful CGI dragons or the latest prestige release from the venerable Asylum Studios, chances are I'll be staring glassy-eyed at some of the lowest-quality entertainment on basic cable. The worst part is, I'm not even sure if these movies are FUN to watch! I just watch them.
90210
Having never watched the original '90s version, I was drawn into the reboot's third season last year by the outrageous retconning of Trevor Donovan's rich ladies-man character into a sad homosexual mannequin. To this day I don't know how I sat through entire episodes of this terrible, terrible show just for the two minutes of screen time that particular (and ultimately boring) storyline was allotted each week, but there it was every Tuesday, saved on my DVR and begging to be watched. And now I'm faced with an even more pressing question: WHY am I watching THIS season? Donovan's not even ON it anymore!
Big Brother
Watching Big Brother doesn't seem like a serious offense now that summer's over, but keep in mind the fact that Big Brother was on THREE nights a week for THREE MONTHS. Also, there were live feeds on Showtime 2 every night. By the end I'd sunk low enough to read online recaps of what had happened in the house every day? It was truly a low point in my life and I'm already looking forward to next July.
Live feeds of any kind
While Big Brother has obvious appeals, including candy-colored sets and dastardly schadenfreude, its most appealing aspect is its live feed. I'm a sucker for live feeds of any kind: local news, home shopping, public access. ANY of it. If you want a deeper explanation, I think I just love how unpolished live feeds often are, how real a portrait of inherent human awkwardness they present. To me it's more strangely thrilling to watch a Big Brother houseguest do dishes for ten minutes than it is to watch yet another procedural about a serial killer. I don't know, maybe other peoples' awkwardness makes me momentarily forget about my own.
Shows about hoarding
Programs like Hoarders, Hoarding: Buried Alive, and Animal Hoarders are just modern, depressing variations on the reality makeover show. But unlike Extreme Makeover: Home Edition or HGTV'd, these ones actually make me WANT to clean up my apartment, throw away all my possessions, and just start over.
Direct-to-video horror films
Give me five hours and an internet connection and I will scan through basically everything in the Netflix Streaming horror section, starting with the worst cover designs. Now, I have low standards, but there are limits to the awfulness I can endure. (Question: Are most low-budget horror movies filmed on cell phones now? Also whatever happened to casting attractive actors??) But that doesn't mean I won't watch the first ten minutes of everything for HOURS at a time. Time well-spent, definitely. (Haha R.I.P. Rome Season 2)
All right, YOUR TURN! What are your televised Achilles Heels?
Jersey Shore & Family Guy. I know Family Guy isn't as good as it used to be...but I'll continue to watch as long as it's on. Same with Jersey Shore...well as long as these people are on the show..i'll be tuning in.
haha despite the fact that it's got more cheese than Chuck E himself, the original 90210 is far too classic to go on ignored like that.
One Tree Hill! Have to know that Nathan and Hayley haven't split up, but can't stand Quinn and her bloke (whose name I can't remember) have to fast forward through their sections - can't stop my eyes from rolling & feeling sick when they're all lovely dovey which is in every scene!
Definitely Two and a Half Men! Ashton's character sucks! I want Charlie Sheen back!!!
The Vampire Diaries... Boring and stupid at times, yet weirdly addictive, plus, you've got to love the crazy reviews...
There are some shows I'm embarrassed to admit I enjoy (such as the Real Housewives of New Jersey or Rupaul's Drag U), and then there are shows I inexplicably continue to watch despite not enjoying. In the latter category I would put the A List New York, which is a gay reality show on Logo that had some funny bits in the first season, but descended into Hills staged pseudo-reality in the second season. There is literally no one to root for on that show, they're all despicable people. I grind my teeth while watching, yet have seen every single episode. Is it a gay thing? Perhaps.
Oh, and anything involving a Kardashian. Those girls are impossibly stupid and boring, yet I have spent many hours watching their non-shenanigans.
i'm sorry...but i trully HATE Big Brother Brazil from the deep inside... it's the most horrifying thing i've ever seen... the people who watch it and like it are surely brain damaged or have been brain washed... it's soooo bad... (remember where I live)...
my guilty pleasures are Gossip Girl (stupid/hot Chuck Bass) and America's Next Top Model (I love the photoshot part and the panel where we see the pictures, the rest is just stupid)
gossip girl! it's super bad (and boring) but i love it!
I THINK GOSSIP GIRL, 90210 AND THE LYING GAME I KNOW THEY'RE BAD BUT I CAN'T STOP
Definitely Jersey Shore...
TVD, for sure! But at least we get rewarded by you with those excellent recaps. They are better than the show (no hard feat, but still)
I managed to 'stop' watching The Ringer after two episodes and I am finally free of Gossip Girl.
Prabably "Two and Half Men" and "Gossip Girl".
This season is "Reager". The show is not good at all but i can't wait for more.
Touched by an Angel. Not an avid follower, but whenever it was on I was CAUGHT, and guaranteed a tears-and-snot session wholly unrelated to the quality of the show.
A Norwegian reality-docu-show (like Extreme makeover) called "The Luxury Trap", where people who've screwed their finances get professional help to turn their personal economy around - it's so good to have someone you can feel better than... ;)
Gryes Anatomy - I HATE IT - why can't I look away - WHY??????????????
I just roll my eyes, sigh, and hate myself for the entire hour!
i used to love extreme couponing, but sadly thats never on anymore... its basically hoarding...
90210 used to be a lot better, the first season was the best, the second was okay, the last half of the third season and the fourth are total crap, i can;t even watch it anymore
Jersey Shore!
And I thought I had problems! I dont watch any of the shows you listed. That prompted me to take a quick look below at shows other people considered BAD. And you know...they really ARE BAD!!! I don't watch any of them either.
So, I guess I can go along watching the shows I do and feeling GOOD about my choices.
I think I speak for all of us when I say: Two and a Half Men.
Amen to that!
Amen
Any shows with unresolved sexual tension: Castle, Bones, and, well, Rizzoli & Isles before they made it clear that they were not, in any way, gay. lol
Oh and, Hart of Dixie. I think it's because of the awkward hair flips she does that make me wonder how much hairpins cost in Hollywood..
America's next top model. I'm addicted. I watch every season. I'm clearly insane.
Definitely The Secret Life of the American Teenager. The acting is so horrible! I know it is horrible as I am watching it, but can't wait until the next episode!
i watch alot of tv shows so there are alot of crappy ones .
i will not give names but i will say that any show with Hot teenagers , Zero Acting and lame plot so serve yourself :P
Chuck and Six Feet Under
Well, I watch The Vampire Diaries, but even if it's not the best show ever made, it's not that bad for me to consider it a guilty pleasure...What I do consider a guilty pleasure is Gosip Girl. The first three season were fun and good enough to get me really hooked, but the 4th and the 'now' 5th one...not so much. I watch it because I got 'attached' to the characters and I want to know what's going to happen to them.
Also, The Secret Circle, but I blame that all on you cause I'm having so much fun reading your recaps. I mean, really, they show's boring and has nothing new and/or exciting in it...imo
I think they should share a part of their profits with you since I bet I'm not the only one watching TSC or TVD only to enjoy your recaps :)moreless
Supernatural and Family Guy.
supernatural is pretty good! (i watch it too)
big brother and dance moms
not finished ; unforgettable, 2 broke girls, ncis la, castle and a lot mor. csi and some other old tv shows are Pending. Meaning watch them one more time and decide which one to drop.
charlies angels brrrrrrr......
I've managed to stop watching 90210 and Pretty Little Liars (too much stupid drama! But I'm still gonna tune in for the series finale, whenever that is) but i can't get my self out of Gossip Girl. I seriously don't know why i watch it.
pretty little liars
terra nova
Kardashians.
Ringer!
Stopped watching Private Practice-terrible. Also, Sanctuary, Wharehouse and leverage.
Bored with Grey's, CSI Miami.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills & Keeping up with the kardashians...they're just so addictive!
Glee
Monkey Magic...
Syfy Originals
I am even worst than all of you, can't even remember the name of the show I make fun of, but it is on my DVR and I watch it every week and make more fun. It is the one with the ME that wears the spike heels to work and runs around looking at bodies across grass, where you just know the heels dig into the yard/mud or what have you. I don't know any MEs but I would bet they don't wear heels all day...just the women of course. lol OH, OH just thought of the name..Body of Proof. Good for a laugh.
Don't watch a lot of new bad shows but love to watch some of the classics that were not exactly "Critically acclaimed. "Gilligan's Island" comes to mind. I would watch "It's About Time" if they'd bother to run it. "Lost in Space" was often considered as less then stellar, with it's muppet looking creatures (esp in the second season). Also Time Tunnel. Whenever a "B" B&W 50's sci fi movie comes on, I'm there. I like the classier ones too, but I own DVD's of "Killers From Space", and "Giant From the Unknown" among others.
la peor cosa : son las malas caras!
The worst thing I watch used to be The Bad Girls Club. Now they just stink.
Bones.
Agreed.
omg lol I totally agree about 90210! I can't believe I still watch that shit. And Gossip Girl... and probably some other shit...
Snapped on Oxygen - it's so bad but it's so good!
Cake Boss. Every Monday at 8pm on TLC I hit my low point.
I keep watching Terra Nova... it's soooooo bad, and yet I plan to keep watching it because there's a hole in my soul left by Lost, BSG, etc. that can't be filled. I know it's bad, that it probably won't get better (am hoping The Othe... I mean, Sixers storyline pans out, but given the awful standalone episodes involving birds and the flu, am doubtful).
The only hope for this show is to go into Fringe-mode and accelerate the Sixers and Symbols main story arcs they're predictably saving for mid-season and season-ending episodes in order to stop losing viewers and end up in cancellation.