Confessions of a reality TV junkie

As a member of the elite geeky class, I try to live up to their standards. I am playing not one, but two D&D campaigns right now, and the only thing keeping me away from the multi-player online role-playing games is my knowledge I don't have the free time to play. I read Slashdot, which is set as my homepage, Penny Arcade, and like to shop at Think Geek. My running is seen as a little unusual, but then Vin Diesel is decidedly in the geek camp, and he's far buffer than I am! Anyhow, there's a slight problem. Real geeks don't like reality TV. I love it.

Now, I've never really gotten excited about Survivor or The Bachelor/Bachelorette. I think Survivor doesn't feature enough surviving. Also, I don't see why it always has to take place in tropical environments. Sure, there are snakes, but it's just too easy to get along on these islands. Maybe if they had a Survivor: Siberia, I would watch. As for The Bachelor/Bachelorette, the other dating shows are just more interesting. I don't like American Idol either. I think it's painful. The only person I like on the show is Simon, largely because he seems to be the only one who says what I'm thinking (I am not mentally nice to people who can't sing/dance but think they can).

Anyhow, there are plenty of reality shows that I do enjoy and even try not to miss. My current favorites are Hell's Kitchen, The Amazing Race, Average Joe, and Beauty and the Geek. I have also been known to watch all the TLC reality shows and all the child-rearing based shows (e.g. Nanny 911 and Supernanny). How can people let their kids have all the control?! Last night, I watched Dancing with the Stars for the first time. It was great! Seeing the guy who played J. Peterman on Seinfeld doing a musical rendition of a matador taunting a beautiful woman was both hilarious and strangely beautiful.

The chef on Hell's Kitchen really is a jerk, but half the time, it's hard to blame him for being so angry. How many times does he have to tell these future chefs that if they don't like the food, they shouldn't send it out to the guests? I'm always rooting for the guys on Average Joe, and they always lose. The big problem so far is that when they bring the hunks onto the show to fight for the love of the beauty queen, one of the hunks is inevitably a nice guy. One of the beauties chose a hunk who lived with his parents at age 26 over an average Joe who happened to be a millionaire. That hurt. Beauty and the Geek is Ashton Kutcher's "social experiment." They've paired off geeks with beauties who, as a team, work to understand each other better. Amazing Race is fun because you see how little people really know about traveling and can easily imagine yourself in the same situations. I think Jud and I could be a formidable team if we could learn how to drive stick. I am pretty good at navigating these days. I still think my family should have tried out for the family edition.

A new season of Biggest Loser is starting soon. You know I'll be watching.