Confession
I'm a pretty big TV watcher. It's a habit that I picked up growing up which was reinforced while living in Japan. Even though my mom watched almost NO television when I was a kid, my dad used (and continues to use) it to veg out and relax. He was and is the kind of father that instantly wakes up from dozing off and says, "Hey, I was watching that!" when you turn off the TV two hours after he fell asleep in front of a golf game (hmmm, now that TVs don't "click" they way they used to, I wonder if he still has his "TV antenna"?)
Now that my mom is retired, she not only has a hugantic widescreen TV -- something I never would have guessed she'd ever want -- but she also has cable and a DVD player, and my dad has both cable and satellite (for when the cable goes out, which isn't infrequent) and all sorts of other electronic devices hooked through his stereo into his jumbo, bigger-than-my-car television set. Even though I'm pretty good at figuring things out, I am completely baffled by his family of remote controls and how they all work together. The fact that I only have a normal sized TV and no cable means I'm about three generations of technology behind everyone else in my family.
Despite this techie handicap, I still watch more TV than I should, especially with school. I can't imagine how bad it would be if I did have cable... But there is one type of programming which I have always eschewed and avoided: reality TV. I never did see a full episode of Survivor or Big Brother or The Bachelor or any of that genre (which was harder to do than you might imagine). But here's the guilty confession, I am totally getting into Average Joe.
Now, I'm the first to admit that it's not quality programming, but it is fun. Maybe it's something about rooting for the underdog... maybe it's something about seeing what inane lengths the producers will make the participants go to... maybe it's the voyeuristic value of following the participants' stories (kinda like reading personal blogs?)... I dunno. The reality of these shows is less believable than the dramas and sitcoms on TV, but somehow they hook you.
Watch out... America's Next Top Model, here I come (as a viewer, of course)!
Now that my mom is retired, she not only has a hugantic widescreen TV -- something I never would have guessed she'd ever want -- but she also has cable and a DVD player, and my dad has both cable and satellite (for when the cable goes out, which isn't infrequent) and all sorts of other electronic devices hooked through his stereo into his jumbo, bigger-than-my-car television set. Even though I'm pretty good at figuring things out, I am completely baffled by his family of remote controls and how they all work together. The fact that I only have a normal sized TV and no cable means I'm about three generations of technology behind everyone else in my family.
Despite this techie handicap, I still watch more TV than I should, especially with school. I can't imagine how bad it would be if I did have cable... But there is one type of programming which I have always eschewed and avoided: reality TV. I never did see a full episode of Survivor or Big Brother or The Bachelor or any of that genre (which was harder to do than you might imagine). But here's the guilty confession, I am totally getting into Average Joe.
Now, I'm the first to admit that it's not quality programming, but it is fun. Maybe it's something about rooting for the underdog... maybe it's something about seeing what inane lengths the producers will make the participants go to... maybe it's the voyeuristic value of following the participants' stories (kinda like reading personal blogs?)... I dunno. The reality of these shows is less believable than the dramas and sitcoms on TV, but somehow they hook you.
Watch out... America's Next Top Model, here I come (as a viewer, of course)!
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