When I do my periodic cruise through blogs, I’m often struck by how detached I seem to be from mainstream culture, and here’s one reason why: even though I have the TV on for long periods of time, I still don’t ever watch what everyone else is watching. I took a few moments this morning to compile a list of shows that people are currently talking about around the water cooler — shows which I have never seen nor had any desire to see.
- American Idol
- Alias
- Law and Order (any variety)
- CSI (any variety)
- Any sitcom with some fat guy married to a thin gorgeous woman
- Fox News
- Family Guy
- American Dad
- Arrested Development
- Scrubs
- Anything on The WB
- Any beauty pageant
- Anything with "Celebrity" in the name or "America’s Somethingest"
- Any reality show that features celebrities, especially has-beens cooped up together in a mobile home
- The Simple Life
- Everybody Loves Raymond or Everybody Hates Chris
- Survivor or any of its reality progeny
- That 70s Show
- South Park (other than the movie)
- The Apprentice
- Desperate Housewives
- Crossing Jordan, Cold Case, The Unit, The Shield, JAG, NCIS, blah blah blah
- 24
- The Office
- The Sopranos
- Sex and the City
- Nip/Tuck
- Six Feet Under
- The L Word
- Chappelle’s Show
- The Amazing Race
- The OC, Gilmore Girls, 7th Heaven, Charmed, Dawson’s Creek, Smallville, and the rest of their hangers on
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Xena, Hercules, etc.
- House
- Boston Legal
- Fear Factor
- Top Chef, Iron Chef, Project Runway, etc.
- Grey’s Anatomy
Man… it goes to show how annoying it must be to watch TV with me. Probably 75% of the experience is just shuffling through the guide desperately looking for something, anything that I might want to watch.
You should really consider giving Family Guy and Scrubs a chance. Probably two of the best shows on TV.
Most the others… you’re spot on.
I hardly watch anything except CNN, the Daily Show, the Weather Channel and TCM, and not much of any of that since I’m so busy. However,
the most vacuous and surprisingly funny show I’ve come across in a long time——–NoTorious.
Tori Spelling is absolutely hilarious and all of her co-stars are, too. I thought the first episode was a scream, and I don’t normally watch stuff like this.
Uusally I’m a real snob about anything that doesn’t have some kind of learning or political content in it. But this totally useless show takes the cake.
I’ll watch it again.
…Of course, now that I like this show, it’s doomed for sure. I also thought The Searcher (Diedrich Bader,1993 Danger Theatre) and Police Squad (with Leslie Nielsen in 1982) were hilarious too, and they only lasted about 6 episodes. Mad Movies was good too, the first show that replaced old-movie dialogue with comedian’s updated dialogue.
My luck finally got better when I watched Seinfeld’s first episode and I predicted a hit to my friends.