At one point or another, a friend or family member has recoiled in disgust at the site of your television. “Why on earth do you watch that show?” This question bounces off as you struggle to explain your intentions, but you cannot. The show is so bad that you have no possible way to describe your attraction to it. True, they are not all bad, but at times, popularity causes us to drift off and watch these shows for hours. Some will even miss going out to view them. Brace yourselves. These are the top ten shows that pull us in, and once they are over, leave us wondering what was so astounding in the first place.
Toddlers & Tiaras
Overbearing mothers, fake teeth and screaming children do not even begin to describe this competition driven show. Whether these little “angels” are getting highlights in their hair or smiling an eerily perfect smile as they dance to hip hop tunes, we just cannot look away from the screen. Maybe it is seeing how far the mom will go or being hypnotized by the sparkly dresses. Either way, this show has us all thinking of the world of beauty pageants.
Jersey Shore
Even people who have not seen it know the cast. Snooki and J-Woww are household names by now. While we shake our heads at their glowing skin and devil-may-care attitude, their shenanigans are just plain entertaining. As Americans, we just love a good fight.
Maury
Move over Jerry Springer, this tabloid show rivals the latter in violence and ridiculous situations. Sometimes, it is simply dumbfounding wondering why someone would subject his or herself to such humiliation. Yet, we invest in these loud and rash individuals. From time to time, I have found myself doing the “you’re not the father” dance.
The Bachelor/Bachelorette
Despite the overall cookie cutter look and personality of its participants, we all like to see relationships play out, especially if there is a fight among the contestants. With about twenty-five men or women to one woman or man, odds are favorable for a fight. Perhaps, we watch in the hope that a pack of men (or women for you hopeful guys) will come trying to woo us.
Workaholics
Comedy Central is already known for the raunchiness of its programs, but Workaholics takes it to a new level. The antics of the trio from Telamericorp keep us coming back for more, even when we wonder what we just watched in the first place. From eating shrooms in the office afterhours to getting a coworker’s handicapped cousin hired so they may use his parking spot, nothing is “too far” for these guys. Let’s face it, we just love stuff that is inappropriate.
Bad Girls Club
Nothing satisfies the American public more than a “bad girl.” To put it frankly, these are not bad girls; they are nearing psychotic. After seeing several televised fights where two of the contestants almost maim each other, I have lost the stomach for shows like these. While these women preach about how much they love their children and families, they are not doing them any good by putting on such a show for most of the country to see. But for some reason Americans love to watch their bad girl antics.
Keeping Up With the Kardashians
Television’s infamous family never has a dull moment on or off screen. Like any other celebrity reality show, the fur and the glamorous nails are sure to fly. In fact, Kim goes an entire episode being completely horrible to her sisters for waking her up, despite the fact that they only did so to tell her goodbye and that they loved her because they were heading off on a long trip. Can we say drama queen? And viewers love the drama!
Real Housewives of…
As Peter Griffin of Family Guy rightfully puts it, “It’s so fun to watch rich people be naughty.” This completely explains the appeal of any version of the Housewives show. Whether it’s the feisty nature of the New Jersey housewives or the cattiness and backhanded behavior of the Orange County wives, audiences cannot look away. At times, maybe we’re just envious of all their possessions that they take for granted.
Teen Mom
Shows like these are honestly at the top of my pet peeve list. From time to time, it’s as if MTV is giving young girls the book on bad parenting and putting it up on screen for all of America to see. Like watching a train wreck, it is hard to look away. Honestly, the fact that one girl leaves her baby alone in the hallway is simply appalling. While I dislike this show, it still has its faithful followers that embrace it as their guilty pleasure.
Secret Life of the American Teenager
Obviously, I am going to get a few thumbs down for this show being on the “guilty pleasures” list, but I do not see the pull. When the show first hit ABC Family, I was actually interested and attempted to watch through the first season. Quite honestly I found myself shaking my head several times throughout episodes. The doe-eyed Amy Juergens quickly lost her sympathy from me because she is simply too naïve to resemble a real person. Another factor of the show is the carelessness and selfishness of some of the adult characters, which leaves me saying, “Are you kidding me? No wonder that girl is pregnant with people like this to follow.” Another show that I don’t like but it has other viewers coming back for more.