Guilty Pleasures
The shows that are so bad they’re good
As a fourth year I knew that this break would have to be different. Gone are the care free days of Freshers’ fun; with only a semester left to go, the real work starts now (and in earnest) and so I spent my break meticulously researching dissertation material, testing countless participants and…
Oh, who am I kidding? I spent the break like any other student: stuffing my face in a panda onesie (thank you Santa) and indulging in what can only be described as the ‘Guilty Pleasures’ of the TV world. Here are some of my favourites:
1) CBB (Which should stand for ‘Couldn’t Be Better!’)
This series of Celebrity Big Brother has given us the best viewing yet: bags of drama; plenty of Lee Ryan (this greatly pleases my inner 13 year-old); and more sex than you can shake a stick at. Am I the only one who sees Luisa Zissman (previously of The Apprentice) becoming the new queen of reality TV? Imagine what she’d do on Strictly Come Dancing.
2) Don’t Tell The Bride
A classic never dies, does it? I could justify my Christmas obsession with this by dubbing it “research.” My brother got engaged recently and, as Maid of Honour, I need to be up-to-date with the wedding world. In reality my reasoning is much simpler: watching a half-drunk groom scramble for ideas; admiring the often nicer and more thoughtful best man (why isn’t she marrying him?!); and basking in disbelief at a job well pulled together (or, on very rare and special occasions, laugh as the Bride fails disguise her horror. I refer you to that Vegas episode).
3) Criminal Minds
This one is a bit more respectable than the other guilty pleasures, but the blinding inaccuracies mean it definitely has to make the list. For example: Agent Derek Morgan is portrayed as the Lothario of the group -and he is a fine piece of man-meat- but I maintain that if a person truly did exist who was as beautiful and as intelligent as Spencer Reid he would struggle to move through the females falling at his feet. Also, if Garcia really is a kick-ass hacker why do her systems get hacked so much? These convenient developments in the plotline qualify this show as ‘easy viewing’ but if you don’t watch it, do so now. It’s AH-MAY-ZING!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OENHJgnvJFs
4) Chewin’ The Fat
In this extremely-PC world we should probably brand this show offensive, archaic, and demand its immediate removal from the air. And yet we don’t. It’s Scottish. It’s controversial. It’s bloody hilarious. I don’t know a single (Scottish) person who didn’t tune in on New Year’s Eve; long live the Hogmanay specials!
So there we have it. For the past month I’ve had an indescribable love-affair with my TV remote and I guess my dissertation will just have to wait until CBB is over!
Images courtesy of athomemagazine.co.uk