What Are Your TV Guilty Pleasures? Mine Is The "Moment of Truth"

I try very hard not to watch any TV where the object of the show is just to see how stupid people can be. I have a low enough opinion already.

I do like watching anime TV even though I'm many times a grandfather. I like the different stories and love some of the art.

Make Me a Supermodel and Gossip Girl. CSI Miami is also a pretty guilty pleasure of mine.

in one of his richard bachman stories, stephen king wrote about what he saw back in the early 80s (the book was published in 1982) as the potential culmination of television's ability to access the most depraved human curiosity. in 1987, it became a movie starring ahnold. "the running man" was about a game show that featured a lottery-based chase to the death. if you won the lottery, you won the chance to be chased until you were killed.

man, i watched that show last nite too, in between watching the sabres crumble against the goddamn mother@!$%#ing philadelphia flyers. there was a justice to that game, which saw the sabres lose a 3-0 lead, and possibly the last playoff spot only one year after logging the best record in the league, to their rivals, who beat them using the sabres 2007 hero, daniel briere, to score the winning goal in the shootout.

i'm not sure who the winner was in last nite's "moment of truth." maybe it was truth. the contestant was no ethical hero, it seems. the leadup to the catastrophe was obvious. she never lies to anyone about the quality of their hairstyle, but she keeps her father's secrets from her mother. maybe that was why only her father responded to the question, "are you proud of your daughter?"

look, i'm as empathetic as the next guy, but that girl didnt ruin her life last nite. she is obviously a materialistic snob — the kind who marries because she wants to make a point and who has never gotten over the fact that, even with tons of makeup, she'll still never be the pretty sister. i dont buy for a second that her or her husband was unprepared for those questions or those answers. come on. they only ask a limited number of questions in the setup interview — it would take a moron not to realize which questions are going to be asked if the contestant expects foxtv to hand over huge wads of cash in exchange for high drama.

i couldnt watch the last 5 minutes. maybe that was my moment of truth, my limit. or maybe i wanted to find a more familiar suffering — the 3rd period was about to start, after all. but, yeah — thats my guilty pleasure, stupid game shows.

I'm "guilty" of being a British "Soap" addict. I never miss, "Eastenders", "Coronation Street", or "Emmerdale".

Yes, I know I should get out more, but there is nowhere to go, and, when you get there, you can't smoke!

These programs exist because people watch them. I believe this is the same as the person that knowingly buys stolen goods out of the trunk of a car or in the back alley. Anyone that watches this kind of program is worse than the producers. Without you, the program would not be aired.

The host is merely reading what the writers wrote for him. He is reading the teleprompter. The length of the pause is controlled in the production booth.

It is "Jerry Springer" with much higher production values.

American Idol does have the goal of furthering careers and has done so rather well in 6 years. Several very successful recording artists, an Academy Award winner, at least 2 on Broadway. Anyone that suffered any damage was done totally by themselves. There were no writers magnifying and intensifying problems.

American Gladiator appeals to the David versus Goliath myth. In truth, if the 'Gladiators' did not pick favorites, none of them would prevail. It is Professional Wrestling between people of greatly different sizes and abilities. (You did not mention "Pros versus Joes")

I watched the Moment of Truth episode last night, and this was a very troubled young lady. She was obviously very unhappy in her marriage. She said that she didn't care about the money, she wanted to get some things off her chest.

My understanding is that the contestants have already been asked all of these questions before, so they know what questions they are going to be asked. I told my husband that I thought she was terribly unhappy and wanted to get these things out in the open, while earning enough to leave her husband and start a new life. Unfortunately, for her, she probably destroyed her marriage and still left with nothing. My guess is she will move back in with mommy and daddy.

Why did I watch it? Why not? I was tired, the kids were in bed, and there was nothing else on. Sure I could have been contributing to society in some positive way, but sometimes you just want to do nothing. With TIVO, we watched the entire thing in about 30 minutes.

I have been watching Make Me a Supermodel (not too dramatic and definitely edgier than ANTM), The Gauntlet (now that one is so much drama it'll make your head spin) , ANTM, Top Chef, Project Runway, What Not to Wear, Making the Band (mostly to see Diddy ego trip and to have something pop-culture to write about on my music blog) and a couple others I can't think of at the moment.

The only thing I feel slightly guilty about is watching All My Children on a semi-regular basis.

I read, write and analyze all day so a little brain junk food is what I go for when watching TV.

Ergh. For me, it's Big Brother & American Idol. Started watching Big Brother last year. It just entertains me.

For a time I avidly watched American Gladiator. I loved the original so much I had to, but that show is pretty clean actually. Grant it I loose brain cells, but the women have forearms the size of my thigh. Pretty hot....... I think.

Um . . .we shut the cable off over a year ago and most of the time the entertainment system is shut off at the surge protector. Sorry.

Until Jan. 1, 2008 when the cable station stopped airing it, I was hooked on a Canadian H.S. drama called "Edgemont." It was charming and breezily youthful and based in Vancouver. It has been a huge hit in France, yet not so big here in the States. Some of its alums have moved on: Kristen Kreuk starred on "Smallville," Grace Park did a Star Trek series, and Jessica Lucas is the new pretty young thing on "C.S.I." (although, in a nod to Hollywood values versus Canadian ones, every outfit she wears on C.S.I. is inexplicably low cut).

The show was pro-Canada and showcased its youth and their struggles. I grew up on the East Coast in NYC, and I'm twenty years removed from high school, yet I found myself oddly affected by this drama, which ran for about 5 seasons.

Once upon a time, there was "Gilmore Girls" and "Dawson's Creek." Original scripted programming is becoming a thing of the past.

The only other dramas I look forward to are "E.R." and "Law and Order," which are both in decline. I watch a lot of CNN and BBC and Euronews.

Scoop, I'm tickled to read you were a court reporter. I am a court officer, or bailiff. Small world, huh?

The only show I feel guilty about watching? The Girls Next Door. It's like watching a platinum blond train wreck and weirdly fascinating.

I do not watch any so-called "Reality" shows at all. As I have already said, my one t.v. "weakness" is British Soaps.

Having said this, one American series I did like (so much that I have since bought the who series on VHS) was "Twin Peaks".

The charecters were incredable and so was the music. I am currently re-watching it all the way through for the THIRD time!

Beauty and the Geek

Deal or No Deal.

I don't watch TV as much as I used to, but I still watch lots of movies on DVD. The only shows I watch with any regularity are The Wire on HBO and My Name Is Earl when I remember it's on. I used to watch Project Greenlight, but for the most part I don't watch any reality television. The more reality television they program, the less I even bother to check what's on the networks. I just assume it all sucks.

Unless you count courtroom stuff. I frequently watch crime documentaries that are relatively serious, and I used to leave the Court TV channel on in the mornings while they were describing real life court dramas. Recently they renamed it Tru Tv. They still cover real trials during the day, but I watch less.

I guess the only guilty pleasure I have is watching the latest version of Dr. Who. It's a good show, but kind of silly and over-the-top. I like it anyway though, I'm addicted.

Of course, I watch American Idol. But my real guilty pleasure, in terms of reality shows, is Who Wants to Be a Super Hero with Stan Lee. It's very, very campy.

The Amazing Race and Run's House

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke's words refer specifically to men, but I believe they apply equally to men and women.

I don't mean to sound like a preacher, but there is a complacency when it comes to outrageous tv that is slowly eating away at the value and respect we judge other human beings with.

Shock tv continues to push the boundaries, in part I believe, because what was shocking last year has now become passe through repeated exposure. Instead of turning the channel when we know we should, we sit and watch for any number of excuses - nothing else is on, everyone at the office is talking about it, etc.

Friends and family have asked me why I did not watch programs such as "Sex and the City" or "The Sopranos". They told told me that yes, they were kind of of edgy, but in the next breath they would gush about how brilliantly written or expertly acted the shows were. That may be the case. But each of us has a personal scale of ethics and when you feel that something is wrong, all the great acting, fantastic writing, and brilliant directing in the world doesn't make it right.

It's easy to say, "what's the big deal? It's not like it's real" or in the case of Reality TV, "well these people exposed themselves to this kind of attention, anyway". True enough, but I think shock tv hurts all of us.

I don't remember any "good old days". But it does seem that as little as 15 years ago, people were a little less isolated and self-centered. They seem to view each other more in terms of whole human beings, instead of collections of body parts or soulless resources that could be used for personal gain, entertainment or otherwise.

Hey, I'm not suggesting we limit ourselves to Masterpiece Theater and the PTL channel. Personally, I'm a diehard SpongeBob fan. My beef is with brain candy that hurts other people or society in general.

I'm an attorney, and you would never guess that I excitedly look forward to Rock of Love on Sunday nights. This might sound strange, but I find reality tv somewhat theraputic. I'm a person who over-thinks and over-analyzes everything. I'm always in my head. TV shows with less-than-stellar writing or premises allow me to relax and help me turn my brain off.

I also watched that episode on Moment of Crap. Perhaps the only time I will ever watch it. I am no exception to agreeing with the original thought that shows like this is a waste of television space. However, there are a couple thoughts that I had.

The first thought is: it was pretty apparent that her marriage was heading for failure, regardless of the existence of this program. I learned an interesting concept when I first started driving (well maybe not so interesting). I use to be afraid of police officers catching me on my driving mishaps and issuing tickets. But then an old minister told me an interesting thought: "If you follow the traffic rules, you'll never have to worry about police officers pulling you over..." Despite your subconscious or conscious desire to break the law every now and then when driving, it's true. In the case of this woman, had she originally not made such decisions, she wouldn't be in the position she is now. What's worse is she didn't even win the money because, go figure, knock on wood, or whatever cliché phrase you know, she answered yes to the question that asked if she thought she was a good person. Maybe not everyone shares my logic, but after revealing such secrets, wouldn't it dawn on you that might not be as a good of a person as you originally thought? I don't disagree that there will be a bad turn of events somewhere down the road. I don't remember if this was what ended the Jenny Jones show, but I do remember them blaming her show for the death of a homosexual man who professed his love to another man. It turned fatal when the other man was charged with the murder of the homosexual man.

My 2nd thought includes the large influx of reality shows that seems to plague the entertainment business. Although many reality shows could have a script directing its drama and outcome, it is minimal. That being said, many of the fictional dramas that rely completely on script, such as one of my favorites, Heroes, have been halted as a result of the strike in Hollywood by the Writer's Guild of America. Many of your favorite fictional dramas, programs, etc, are in danger of never airing again as a result of the strike. Writers and producers are kind of like the ying and yang of the entertainment industry. Writers write the stories while producers only worry about funding what will make money. However, when you lose one of the 2, you see it reflected in the industry. I watched a news story about how American Idol's ratings shot higher then any part of its history of existence on our televisions as a result of nothing else to watch other than reality shows that require minimal scripting. With that being said, I'm not surprised a useless program like this would appear on our televisions. Without the skilled writers continuing existing programs or creation of new ones rely on the money grubbing entertainment producers. If you thought celebrities had drama, let's wonder who are the people that create, instigate, or water the drama you see reflected within those celebrity lives.

I'm not a huge fan of reality shows to begin with. The Moment of Crap show seems to almost epitomize that feeling because of the unnecessary drama it creates. American Idol even eliminated the "team" round to avoid the potential drama between contestants.

I don't know how much anyone cares about my opinion, but I want would encourage everyone to not contribute to its ratings and turn to a different show or turn the television off when it airs.

I used to watch MTVs' "Sweet Sixteen" just to get that Jerry Springer brand of angry at stupid @!$%#es...