Like My Reality TV

LOS ANGELES – AUG 29: Top Chef in the Press Room at the 2010 Emmy Awards at Nokia Theater at LA Live on August 29, 2010 in Los Angeles, CA Top Chef–© Jean_Nelson Used with permission.

What is the appeal of reality television?

I’ve been trying to figure that out and all the reasons I come up with…well, I can find an exception in my own viewing.

I think my viewing falls into two camps, but that might change by the end of this post.

1. The shows I hunt down to watch.

2. The shows I let play happen after something I tracked down is over.

Sometimes a show gets added to my watch list after accidental viewing.

Sometimes shows get watched because there is nothing on (that I want to watch, because clearly there is always something on, even though it feels like there is nothing on).

So, in the first category there is:

1. Top Chef. I was thinking this was my first, but it really wasn’t. I used to watch American Idol when it first started. I started watching Top Chef because one of my daughter’s suggested it. In an ironic twist, she only catches it occasionally, while I have been a faithful viewer for all the seasons. Even more ironically, I can’t really cook, so all it does is let me sound like I know what I’m talking about. But I love the show.

2. HGTV.  I am going to put this channel on, because I like several shows and I’m too lazy to list each one. And who is my favorite at any given moment can change (though I always like Income Property, and have found it on DIY recently, instead of HGTV.) A recent new favorite is Master of Flip. I love her midcentury design vibe. (Let me note here that I have little to no skill in decorating or remodeling, but have found that watching these shows sometimes gives me the delusion that I could.)

3. So going to add DIY as a category, too, even though I don’t watch as many shows on this channel. Love Rehab Addict, which is technically my first if you don’t count the shows that also end up on HGTV. I’m kind of liking those Barnwood Builder dudes.

4. A distant fourth is the Food Network. I apparently like competitions, because it is The Next Food Network Star is what I usually watch. I think I mentioned I don’t do a lot of cooking anymore, so I (apparently) only like to watch cooking when cooks are competing with each other. I also like that show where they do the extreme makeup for movies, but I don’t remember what channel/time, so haven’t added it to my tracking list yet.

So what is up with me? Why these shows? It makes about as much sense as parsing my spam. I had this exchange with the hubs a while ago:

Hubs: What makes you think we could remodel our house?

Me: I’ve watched hours and hours of HGTV. I’m practically a pro.

I did mention the delusions of competence…

So, do you watch any reality tv? Does it give you delusions of something?

I love comments so much that I pick a favorite to receive my monthly AnaBanana gift basket ($25 value).  (And don’t forget that once a quarter I’ll be tossing in something fun from the Perilously Fun Shop!) Recipient is announced the first blog post of the new month.

Perilously yours,

Pauline