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Guilty TV pleasures?
I like Bar Rescue. There's some ridiculous tv dramatization, a smidge of education (how service businesses work), and I can google what happens a year after the show airs (they all seem to close). Plus when I go to bars I feel like I can point out what they're doing wrong.
Burn Notice or NCIS.
Most people think the overall acting of both shows isn't the greatest, but I love both of their formats and have seen both of them in their entirety multiple times. They are always my go to shows when I am not sure what to watch or need some background noise.
Love me some Burn Notice. "When you're a spy... duct tape can come in handy for a variety of situations." Plus it's got Ash. Can't go wrong.
And Eureka. Just finished rewatching the whole series. So scientifically ridiculous, but man that show cracks me up.
Yeah, me and a friend spent our summers just re-watching it from what i remember. Such a goofy but charming show and the format was quite entertaining with the narration over top for some comentary.
But then the whole kendrick arc kinda hurt me to watch.. Went from goofy to tragic real fast, especially with that "I HAVE NOTHING" scene. I absolutely love shows where you're not even sure who you want to win anymore.
Also because of burn notice I can't see Jere Burns the same way. He played Hanson Fullerton too well so now I just hate the guys face. I can't un-hate that man, even when he's helping addicts recover in Breaking Bad. Great actor!
I love it when I find a show that has a format that I just like, and it sticks to it. Shows with great writing, acting, direction, production, etc. are fantastic but they also require mental investment and egagement. The pulp formulas that I enjoy just provide me with a bit of distraction from my own head space. It's especially nice when I'm feeling overwhelmed about shit. Watching something simple, unsurprising, and mostly feel-good can be such a welcome distraction. The familiar faces can become dream figures that take the place of the restless demons of mundanity.
Agents of shield is another one that springs to mind. Totally different vibe from the Netflix marvel shows. Way more similar to burn notice type banter and interactions. It also had some good moments of good vs evil perversion, where you aren't really sure who's right and who's hiding something, but you can rest assured that it'll all come out in the wash.
Yeah I love me some Agents of shield too. I forgot what episode i left off at, but the tall handsome military man got possessed by that ringworm looking thing.
all of this has reminded me of https://tildes.net/~tv/2y3/every_episode_of_the_flash_ever, although not everyone seemed to enjoy it at the time.
As for moral perversion; Utopia. Check this show out if you can. It's phenomenally pretty and well shot, but it's downright horrific. There's a clear "good" and "bad" guys, but the more they talk the more convincing each side gets. Also it's another show about clandestine governmental activities, I'm noticing a trend here lol
My girlfriend and I are currently watching Riverdale, which is a wonderful dumpster fire of a teen drama based on the Archie comics.
I came here to post the same thing. I binged both seasons when they came out, and enjoyed it despite the melodrama and cringe worthy moments (who greenlit the Mad World snake dance scene????). I do feel less guilty about some episodes than others. I enjoyed that weird episode with the drug run, just because it was so bizarre. There were some cool Easter eggs with references to Lovecraft in it!
Oh man, even as someone who loves a good guilty pleasure and has a huge soft spot for teen dramas, I couldn't stand this show. I only got a few episodes in but it felt like the most broody, self-serious, joyless exercise in melodrama to me. I'm glad it has an audience, it can be fun to watch a dumpster fire burn, but this one was a little too hot for me.
I just finished watching GLOW on Netflix, a show about women's pro wrestling in the 1980s. Maybe I should call it a guilty pleasure, but I feel no guilt. I enjoyed watching that shit.
Yeah GLOW is just a straight-up good show, no guilt involved.
I'll sometimes tune into the bachelor because some of the drama is just hilarious.
Yes! Bachelor in Paradise is even better. I mean, just look at the opening credits - you know that's going to be some hilarious drama.
I love Bachelor AU. I'm sure it's just as stupid as the US version but it's great fun watching the dumb drama unfold. The host of the AU version is pretty fantastic too.
90 Day Fiancé. Wall to wall train wrecks.
99% on board. Stopped being fun with the Nicole and Azan special. I felt like I had just watched someone be systematically broken mentally. I felt gross afterwards.
I don't think I've seen that yet.
I mostly tune in to watch Chantal and Pedro make each other miserable.
Their families are the worst. Both families are just awful.
My go-to "guilty pleasure" shows tend to be crime dramas: The Killing, Broadchurch, Absentia, etc. They're never that good but I always get sucked into this stuff.
I don't really like what people talk about as 'guilty pleasures' - I honestly think you can get something of value out of anything. My reality tv of choice is RuPaul's Drag Race, which I actually find fascinating in the way it plays with gender and notions of self-confidence in the world of celebrity. I actually spent the first few seasons trying to work out if it was sexist/transphobic/generally okay to watch; decided it was, but it's still fascinating to consider!
Similarly (though I haven't seen them) I imagine love island and the bachelor(ette) probably say a lot about love in the instagram age. I think even the title of 'keeping up with the Kardashians' makes me interested in the concept of how we in the modern world all want to live like celebrities, where previously we just would have wanted to live like our neighbours ('keeping up with the Joneses')*. The one episode of Queer Eye I've watched already taught me that I shouldn't wash my hair every day.
I do believe in guilty pleasures - obvious ones like getting high, comfort food, etc. - but I don't think tv being a guilty pleasure is what you watch so much as how. I used to get high and watch the Sopranos, and that was definitely a guilty pleasure. If I was watching it and thinking about its bigger messages about society and psychology, then it wouldn't be.
*I didn't come up with this comparison, think I read it in an interview in the Atlantic but could be wrong. Any links appreciated!
Honestly? Old TV shows that I watched when I was younger.
When I was like, 4 - 10 years old, my dad would come home with tapes of Captain Scarlet, Stingray, and Thunderbirds that they were clearing out from work, so I basically grew up on that, early morning reruns of Frasier, and Star Trek TNG/DS9/VOY reruns. Recently I've been quietly rewatching them in my down-time, and happy that for the most part they are 'quality' TV -- better than a lot of trash TV out there.
My other guilty pleasure is Marvel movies, the nice benefit of this is that when I occasionally have movie nights with my parents, Marvel movies are good candidates because there's enough humor and story in there to keep everyone interested.
WWE
Good Wife, sigh. Actually almost cried at one part, but I won't spoiler.
MasterChef, my girlfriend turned me on to it and I can’t stop watching! The over the top drama for a cheesy cooking show is great. And you get to see Gordon Ramsay call people donuts, which is hilarious. Also the occasional scene where one of the pro chefs will make something are usually interesting.
Jane the Virgin. It's essentially an affectionate satire of telenovelas. At its worst the melodrama can feel too heavy to have any fun, but at its best it's like a TV roller coaster. I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes plot twists and ridiculously convoluted plots.