Friday 8 February 2013

Best terrible TV

Not everyone likes terrible TV. Lots of people will watch something and think 'this is truly awful...' and then change the channel! Not me. Sometimes it's the terrible TV that is really the most entertaining. Even for just the opportunity to sit and watch it whilst saying things like "Oh my goodness!" or "This is ridiculous!".

That doesn't mean I will just watch anything. I watch very little TV. I am selective in my own way. I also do watch things that have required thought and are well-written, such as Girls. Sometimes though, you do just want to turn your mind off and let the nonsense TV wash over you. So here are my top, crap TV shows.

America's Next Top Model
ANTM

I am aware this programme is total trash. Basically the premise is- put a lot of wanna models in a house, make them compete in challenges and photoshoots, film every moment, edit it to make them all look like mean girls. It's bitching at it's best. It has about the right proportions of following the politics and the drama, and looking at fashion and photoshoots. Overall it's pretty addictive and it's the relationships between the girls that makes the show worth watching. The best of trash TV! There's also a British version but it's just not the same.

Bridalplasty

Bride plastic surgery

The whole premise behind this show is unbelivable. About 15 above-average looking girls who are getting married are invited into a house. They then compete in challenges to win plastic surgery for their wedding day. It's disgraceful for a number of reasons. 1) It virtually accepts these girls 'need' surgery- when they clearly don't. 2) It completely underminds what a big deal having surgery is. It presents it as a 'prize'. 3) It makes the girls work against each other to achieve a 'perfect wedding'. Saying that, it is car-crash TV. I watched it because I couldn't help saying "OH MY GOD!" each week. The politics between the girls were hilarious. They were devious and clever in their tactics and that made it amazing telly! 

The Love Machine



I've not seen much of this show as it's a new one, and I refused to watch it for a while (like I'M above it... right?!). The contenstants on this show want a date. They are given a randomly generated man out of around 6 men, and must decide whether to ditch or date the man (like stick or twist in cards). They either date the man (or woman), or spin again. It's cutting, the contenstants are brutal and very hard to please (when they're not always that great themselves). It's not a programme I will be hooked on like the others because it doesn't have an ongoing plot and it is fundamentally pointless, but it is a way to switch your brain off for half an hour.


Fool Around With My Girlfriend


This is an old programme I recently rediscovered. You can find it on youtube (click here). 4 girls are put into a house, 3 of which are in a relationship, and the other is single. They must all prove to the fairly attractive man in the house that they are single so that he chooses them as 'the single one' and they get £10,000. If he guesses correctly himself and the single person get £5000 each. The boyfriends are in a secret next door room watching all the action. Although it is crap, it's much better than big brother because it has a point to it, and it's edited to show relevant pieces, rather than just general editing showing any old conversation. I'm a little addicted, and after seeing how many series are on youtube, a little bit worried. Even so... it's great TV for watching on a Ipad in bed before going to sleep.


There are more series I could write about, such as Take Me Out, or Snog, Marry Avoid, but I don't watch them much anymore. They've lost their appeal to me. I expect the same will happen with these programmes before long, and that's the downside of trash TV.

What programmes are your guilty pleasures?

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