It's a long weekend here this weekend. Our first since June. Imagine me doing a very vigorous happy dance at the thought of four days off. It's also AFL grand final weekend which means all of tomorrow will be a testosterone filled day at my brother in laws because his team is playing. Loz will also be very happy. AFL is a big deal in this country for anyone who lives in Victoria or South Australia. Other states have the distraction of rugby. I have never watched an rugby game in my life. Sorry New Zealand. I know rugby and the TV show "Outrageous Fortune " are your main exports.
Anyway, on to FTF for this most wonderful of long weekend Fridays.
I'm really putting myself out there this week with a confession that I am sure will subject me to much ridicule and pity. Obviously that doesn't worry me too much or I wouldn't be making a public confession. I need to unburden my soul. For far too long I've been pretending to be classy and high brow (I'm rolling round on the floor with laughter here ) and it's time you all knew the dirty truth.
Until my sleep went to pot in April I had pretty much sworn off TV. Give me my internet and my sewing machine and I was a happy little vegemite. With the weird sleep thing I started to sack out on the lounge in front of the TV a little more and discovered a whole new world. At the start I was hand stitching and I told myself that I only had the TV on because I needed background noise and something to glance up at occasionally to break my intense scrutiny of my awesome stitching. You can imagine my horror when I started working my weekly after work sewing schedule around some very trashy "reality" TV shows.
Looking back I should have seen the signs. In 2000 Survivor debuted and I loved it. All that skullduggery and back stabbing was pure gold. In 2001 Big Brother appeared on Australian TV for the first time and I became seriously hooked. 7.00pm BB was a viewing must and I didn't miss it for anything. If a crisis hit at 6.59pm you just had to suck it up until 7.30 when I was back in the real world again. Nobody was allowed to speak to me, call me or knock on my front door for that 30 minutes a day. Seriously.
Big Brother was axed in 2008. I was devastated and lost the will to live to watch the 400th season of Survivor and the 221st season of The Amazing Race. I figured I was over my reality TV stage and went on happily with my life.
Until recently...
When I discovered such gems of TV shows like Hardcore Pawn, Pawn Stars and Operation Repo. Something about seeing unfortunate people having their cars repossessed really appealed to the "sucked in, deadbeat " side of my nature. I've since found out that the show is totally scripted and it's kind of lost it's appeal for me. That Matt is a classic over actor, a bit like Jim Carrey. Ditto watching people come in and pawn stuff. And argue about stuff they've pawned. And bitch about how much they're being offered when they try to sell stuff. I've never been in a pawn shop in my life and it's fascinating TV viewing. It's like a train wreck . I don't want to watch but I can't look away.
My favourite thing this week is (un)reality TV ..I admit it . I'm addicted. What's the trashiest TV show you'll confess to watching?
Big Brother is coming back for 2012. I can't see this trashy reality TV kick ending any time soon. And I'll be there with bells on watching at 7.00pm every night. Don't bother emailing or calling me- I wont answer.
32 comments:
Oh - there are whole paragraphs in this that I could copy and paste and make MY FTF. My shows are a bit different, as I STILL love Survivor, Amazing Race, AND BIG BROTHER! And there are others. The kind you can't tear yourselves away from. But perhaps I WILL steal this idea and confess to my "others" on a FTF post.... ;)
I'm speechless.
I have to admit I've gotten sucked into that stuff too from time to time. Right now it's the X Factor. The last few years it was American Idol.
Wow. After reading this I feel the need to unburden also. (head hanging in shame) The Real Housewives shows.
One I really enjoy though is Project Runway. I don't hang my head in shame over that one so much b/c I love to see what they can create in such a short amount of time with such limited resources. Fascinating!
Have a fabulous weekend! :)
Let's see, you know I'm a TV addict so I have a few that I watch, mostly because my husband watches them or one of my kids .. but I stay in the room and try to figure out what's going on. We're watching the X-Factor, watched American Idol, Dancing with the stars, so you think you can dance, a little bit of Big Brother .. and then there's Hoarders..
...LA Ink, Gone Country, Celebrity Rehab (major trainwreckage, so small doses only), American Chopper, Hoarders (only on occasion; see trainwreckage), I Can't Believe I Survived, Ice Road Truckers, Jon & Kate Plus Eight (during the years they were married), one episode of something called Wild Within that I really liked (hunting theme), but found out it's been canceled, No Reservations (Tony Bourdain), Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives...
...Pawn Stars, American Pickers, the Picker Sisters...and how could I forget Dirty Jobs?
Looks like there are lots of us out there watching all sorts of trashy shows that we secretly love.
My guilty secret is " The Bold and the Beautiful" !!!!!!!!!! I know , I know but I've been watching it for about 35 years ( when I was at home with my babies )The good thing about it is that you can miss out on YEARS of episodes(when you go back to work ) then start watching again (when you retire )and it's just same old, same old. They just keep marrying and divorcing eachother. Plenty of eye-candy there and some great clothes too. I have my TV set to record every day just in case I'm not there !!!!
Cheers
PS Fantastic FTF !!
I've been known to watch Eastenders in the beginning, America's Next Top Model and even the spin offs, Project Runway but no longer just sewing and my internet!
Riiiiight. hmmmmmm
We're not twins.
Not a reality TV addict...my best friend Ann is and preset her TV to record Amazing Race. I however do like to my Husbands derision and disgust "Farmer wants a wife" I think it's really just the eye candy!!! But the horrible admission is I love "World's worst Parents". Love seeing those smart alec little brats get Sorted!! I am cringing while I'm typing.
Can't join you there Mrs P just don't get the Reality TV thing, I might watch a bit of a final. Got to say I refuse to watch Survivor and can't stand the Amazing Race. I think the trashiest thing I have watched is the Bold and Days but only occasionally and lets face it you can catch up on those pretty quickly even if you only watch it once every 6 months.
Gosh, I can't believe people don't watch that kind of thing. (Perhaps we are twins!) Although I dispute the "reality tv" tag. Let's use Big Brother as an example. You lock a bunch of people together in a house, without contact with the outside world. If that is in fact "reality" you would be charged with kidnapping or holding someone against their will. Let's face it. It's not a "real" situation. Nevertheless, they quite often are fascinating shows. I personally go for things like "Project Runway" (tragic status here!) "Selling Houses" or even "The Block". I am busy watching "The Renovators" on catch-up tv at the moment. (Although I may never get over the fact that August stayed and Christie was eliminated from the shop this week. I'm sure that was rigged. He couldn't renovate himself out of a paper bag, let alone a shop. It makes one want to give up watching that's for sure!) Anyway, I like some of them!
I hate to break the bad news, but IT'S NOT REAL! My daughter has watched Survivor since time began and if I call her on that night...she says "why are you calling, It's SURVIVOR!" I do like Pawn shop though...it's more information that reality. Never have watched Dr Phil here in the American hemisphere. Cannot stand the yelling...that's reality I suppose, people yelling.
I thought your were sofistikation peronified! How can I get through life now that I know you are a junkie!
Brilliant FTF. Friday seems to have snuck up on me again, where did the week go? I love reality TV too but hardly ever watch it these days except if they have an episode of Project Runway or Top model.....how sad is that!
I loved the first series of big brother. And I was so hooked on Melrose Place. But I've never watched survivor or any of those shows. I wonder if I'm missing out.
Not a TV addict here but was totally sucked in to your candid confession. ;-)
AFL is big over here too. Today was "Wear your footy team colours" @ work today. I wore black and white and threatened the kids who wore Eagles colours with detention. lol
As for TV....Big Bang Theory, Being Human (English version) and Sanctuary.
I feel like you are speaking a language I have never heard. I've never seen any of those shows you watch. In reality (ha!), I guess I don't watch TV. I watch movies from Netflix and at the theater, and I watch series that I also get from Netflix. I'm a bit of a "I want it and I want it now" gal. I like being able to watch episodes back to back and when I want to, not when the network decides to put them on. So far, I've watched (and loved) The Gilmore Girls, Brothers and Sisters (first 88 episodes), one season of Monarch of the Glen, the first season of GLEE, and I'm currently in the first season of McLeod's Daughters. I don't watch every day, or even every other day, more like twice a week, but when I do watch, I watch episode after episode after episode.
Hoarders all the way for me!
BahahahaHA! Where even to start?!
Firstly- I've never ever watched a game of Aussie rules. So we're even. And also NZ has far more exports. Like Marmite for example. Or pineapple lumps. Shhhesh get with it Agatha! (thats what my auto correct changed your name to so I'm going with it) LOL
Secondly I can be sucked into reality tv like the best of them. Noone better dare talk to me while masterchef is ok for example. I lose a whole 2 months of productivity too since its darn well on every night for hours! What's worse is I don't even like to cook even in the remotest of senses. Mind you... I do like to eat!
I have not heard of most of those programs you mentioned though. Perhaps I'm missing out?Xx
I have moments of loving Bridezilla just because I sit there horror struck that 'loving couples' can be so horrible to each other and that brides really do act like that. Helps me feel vaguely superior for a very short while!!
I'm not really one for reality TV anymore - working nights means anything I can't download, I can't watch. But a long time ago, probably around 2004, I worked out that I was watching about 28 hours of TV a week, most of which was Big Brother. I think it was the live up late ones that I watched the most, and that was usually just them bumming about doing not very much.
Seen all the shows everyone's mentioned, 'cause I'm not as much a watcher as I am a flipper. I really don't watch a lot of TV, but this past week while feeling punk, I've flipped through a gazillion reality shows. I'm morbidly fascinated with Dance Moms, and Gypsy Weddings.
The only show I watch is Project Runway, though lately even it has lost a lot of its flair. I tend to wait and just catch the last 20 minutes to see the runway fashions and find out who's eliminated.
Great favourite, Shay! Your confession was fabulous. Maybe we should have a whole month of Friday confessions...hmmm. ☺
In 1986 I was in Melbourne for the AFL grand final weekend - they partied into the next day - never went to bed and almost all of them had a case of beer on their should - LOL. I stayed in my hotel room.
I must confess I dont watch much tv - but those pawn shop ones sound interesting-hehe.
omg -- life doesn't get any better than Project Runway (although it's kind of over the top somedays) and What Not to Wear --- feel free to nominate me -- I could spend $5,000 shopping in NYC anyday!
and well when the American Pickers came to town it was pretty damn close to a riot! Our episode is supposed to air in October!
happy viewing!
Time Team! It's my all-time favourite reality show. And oh, how I miss Junkyard Wars (especially the British version).
I'm afraid I'm stuck with Czech telly, and although the do have things like Big Brother, they are even worse in czech (if that's possible. There is so much brilliant crap on the satellite channels it's hard to choose which to watch! However, I do love Strictly, The apprentice, Dancing on Ice, Masterchef etc. And I know they aren't real!
I too have the same weaknesses Survivor, Amazing Race, Big Brother...I won't take a call when these are on and I want you too know thats when people call....now its the x Factor and Dancing with the Stars. Trish
I love Dancing With the Stars. I'd say it is pretty trashy. The costumes are skimpy to non-existent. There's always drama behind the scenes and then there's Bruno (one of the judges) who gets censored at least every third episode. It doesn't get any trashier than that.
I also like Storage Wars. The cast buy storage units that have been unpaid by the owner and then sort through the stuff, looking for hidden treasures. They sell the stuff they find and try and turn a profit.
Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters are fun, but I'm not sure how 'reality' those shows are. I've also seen an episode or two of Hoarders: Buried Alive and it makes me want to sort through and de-junk every closed, cabinet, drawer and desk in the house. It is unfathomable to think that people can live like that.
There's a new one coming on in a few weeks called Monsters-in-law, where there is a bunch of fighting between families. I can't believe people would want to be filmed and have their bad behavior broadcast for all the world to see.
Speaking of bad behavior, I used to watch Jon & Kate Plus Eight. Kate mellowed out there for a bit, but when she turned back into the housewife from you-know-where, I quit watching. I almost felt bad for her henpecked husband, until it was publicized that he was cheating on her. Super lame.
Yeah. Reality TV.
xo -E
So glad to see it's not just me that thrives on a steady diet of reality tv. See if you can find Storage Wars. Pawn Stars is my fave of the pawn shop shows.
heavens - I'm just checking in to the internet after a few days - you have some serious participation this week!!! love it!
sometimes I think I should watch more tv just because we pay so much every month!
I just saw a tv show last night where people are living like cave-men for ten days. living in animal skins, creating their own shelters, etc. um, no thanks.
I think we all need an escape - you simply need an escape from all of your high-brow living! :)
Post a Comment