TV Salad...

I'm a child of the television age. Growing up, I used to live to watch all the newest sitcoms. Being a 70s kid, this meant that I watched The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, All In The Family, Sanford and Son and others until my mother would force me to turn off the TV and go to bed! Through reruns I was able to see great shows from the 60s like The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show. There were also some great variety shows at that time - Carol Burnett, Sonny and Cher and even Donny and Marie - but, alas, those shows and that genre aren't with us anymore. Sad really because those shows were awesome!

The sitcom, back then, was king! Even into the 90s I watched sitcoms - Roseanne, Friends, Cheers - were all on my nightly viewing list. In the 90s we had some great one hour dramas too and I was hooked on ER for almost all of their seasons.

These days, I don't watch much network TV anymore. I haven't found a sitcom that I think is really funny though friends swear some of them are. Big Bang Theory is one that gets mentioned a lot. Sorry to say I haven't watched a single episode. I used to watch The Office but I don't really consider that a sitcom per se. And every once in a great while I'll watch an episode of 30 Rock. Nope, these days my network TV viewing is delegated to mostly reality shows or contest type shows. Survivor is my all time favorite show. I've watched every single season. I also like The Amazing Race. Something about the challenge combined with the global adventure of those two shows gets me every time.

Though I used to watch talent related shows like American Idol and The Voice, I'm kind of over them. I haven't been too jazzed about the talent on those shows and the formula for the shows got old real fast.

Because I am admittedly a reality TV junkie I am often perusing cable channels to get my nightly fix. Big faves this year are Project Runway, Dance Moms, Real Housewives of New York and New Jersey, International House Hunters (again with that global adventure theme), and Top Chef. I also hang my head to admit that I get stuck watching what I can only refer to as the "train wreck" of reality shows. Oh you know the shows - Celebrity Rehab, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and (I'm so ashamed) Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Yes, I have watched it. And I probably will again.

Then there are the shows that I run across that I will stop to watch when I'm bored and there's nothing else to do. I don't know why I find them interesting. They're not really intense or deep in any way. They are fluff. Harmless and somewhat entertaining. These shows would include 19 Kids and Counting, Storage Wars, and anything on TLC with little people in it.

Would you believe I find the Kardashian's insulting and disgusting? Ha! I do! I can watch Honey Boo Boo til the cows come home but the Kardashian's make my skin crawl. I have no idea what the difference might be but that's the way I feel.

I suppose I should feel stupid admitting that I watch all this crap. And I guess a part of me does. But I also listen to great music, read a lot, paint, go to the theatre and can carry on a great conversation. So, at the end of the day, my little reality TV addiction hasn't hurt me all that much. And a surprising fact is that if I say, in the midst of any group of people, "Has anyone watched Honey Boo Boo?" There will be at least three people who have and who do! So I am not alone in my horrible TV habits!

I gotta run. I think Say Yes to the Dress is on. Oh, that's another good one! Ta Ta!