# Guilty Non-pleasures or Why do I watch this show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 20, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688 "2016-04-20T00:36:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/21 "2016-04-20T15:08:03Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The Walking Dead I have hope that it’s going to get better! 🙂 _The Vikings_. As I said in the other thread, if I hadn’t set up a series record on my DVR, I probably would’ve given up after season 2 or 3 (or once they killed off Athelstan). ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/22 "2016-04-20T15:17:07Z")
My husband watches those car-overhaul shows (last night, it was a Count’s Kustom marathon) and as stupid as I find the staged drama, I’ve been known to walk in from another room for the final reveal, because they do turn out some nice looking vehicles. I hate the hokey stories when someone wants a vehicle done to honor or memorialize a person or event - they get so sappy!! And some of the final products are, um, unique. But for some stupid reason, I keep getting drawn into the show. So far, I haven’t voluntarily turned it on of my own accord, so I’m not that far gone. So far… ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/23 "2016-04-20T15:22:36Z")
Ah, easy. _Little Big Shots_, _America’s Got Talent_ and some seasons of _Dancing With The Stars_: I watch 'em 'cause Madame P. likes them, and she watches the superhero shows with me, so I can’t complain. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/24 "2016-04-20T15:27:48Z")
I watch the Hoarders shows (there are several, I’ll watch them all). They sicken me, sadden me, disgust me, and upset me, but their glimpses into the psychological processes that change people with basically normal lives into people controlled by junk fascinate me. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/25 "2016-04-20T15:35:19Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > **Man Seeking Woman**. Okay, I know this show is targeted for 20-somethings, but at 45yo, I can’t stop watching! > > This show is such a perfect metaphor for me when I was in my 20s. It’s almost like what Charlie Brown would have been like as a 20-something year old. > > It’s actually quite brilliant, but still, VERY surreal. > > (I’ve been watching it on Hulu. It airs on FX.) This show is pure genius and more people should be watching it. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/26 "2016-04-20T15:41:52Z")
Sports recaps. Those shows where some dimwit tells you what you just saw in the game that just ended, interviews some poor shlub who made a big error in the game and just wants to go to the showers, and lets “the girl” giggle at the coach for a bit. Jebus. Sometimes when the game is over I just sit there hypnotized and let this go on for awhile and I swear it gives me brain damage. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/27 "2016-04-20T15:44:39Z")
**Chefguy** , I wanted to be the first to claim the Walking Dead. Here is a show with a great post-apocalyptic premise and general common sense that people are more interesting than monsters. The TV show format allows the creators hours of freedom to build a rich world with engaging characters who build relationships with each other and face drama. Perfect! Except its people are stupid, vapid, and seem to make decisions based on a random-number generator rather than based on their character traits or their development as shown on screen. It’s ludicrous. Whenever characters aren’t doing stupid things, they are spouting wooden dialog instead. Grrr! At least the show doesn’t just kill off the underdeveloped subsidiary characters and replace them with hard to distinguish dopplegangers. Oh wait, it does! ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/28 "2016-04-20T15:46:22Z")
Castle, Castle, Castle…did I mention Castle? Started watching for Nathan Fillion…but I’ve kept watching, like a bored parent at his kid’s Pokeman tournament, because I want to support him. But, man has that show become a slog. I think I’m getting into “hate watch” territory. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/29 "2016-04-20T15:46:36Z")
> [@Totenfeier](#): > > Oh, that has been my favorite hate for a long time. Even the “hard news” first twenty minutes is only barely bearable anymore - I really don’t need “smiley face” or “frowny face” to tell me what my reaction to the news should be. Wow, looks like I got out just in time. I quit watching a year or two ago, I couldn’t take another dogs with a bandanna collar or Today throws a wedding. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/30 "2016-04-20T15:54:49Z")
_Intervention_ I am neither a current nor recovering addict. I don’t cry over the sappy letters from kids begging that they just want their mommy back. I don’t empathize with the addicts because of the abuse in their past. I don’t root for the people entering rehab, hoping they make it. There is no reason for me to watch this show. But for some reason, I can’t stop watching junkies shoot heroin, or alcoholics falling into bushes trying to walk home, or crack heads being crack heads… Good heavens, my addiction is watching addicts getting high :eek: ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/31 "2016-04-20T16:38:14Z")
_Mr. Selfridge_, the final season. All the good writing seems to have evaporated, and Jeremy Piven is showing his non-acting chops. And now we have some painfully stupid “Dolly Sisters” to endure. It’s wearying to watch it. But I watch because I’m invested in it, and I do want to see what happen with Miss Mardle and Mr. Grove. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/32 "2016-04-20T17:55:00Z")
Last weekend, I walked in on my wife doing some work on the computer with the television next to her playing a reality contest show about making swords. My wife has zero interest in swords or things sword related. I asked her about it and she said "Well, I wasn’t paying attention when it came on, then I saw the end of the first episode, then I saw it was a marathon so I said ‘Well, I guess I’m watching sword making for the next four hours.’ " In her defense, she mainly had the TV on for background noise but it was still pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/33 "2016-04-20T18:05:29Z")
For a while there I would catch my wife watching Sister Wives, and my reaction every time was “What the hell is wrong with you?” She found it oddly fascinating. Thank god she grew out of that phase! I can get sucked into Pawn Stars occasionally, but I’m kind of a jackass. Of course, these days I’m watching endless amounts of Blaze and the Monster Machines and Team Umizoomi, but I know the reasons I’m watching those. Two shitty little reasons. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/34 "2016-04-20T18:22:47Z")
I’m a sucker for any reality show set in Alaska, even though every last one of them is permacrap. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/35 "2016-04-20T19:48:38Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > _Stitchers_. It’s trying so hard to be a CW sciencey-fictiony show, but hasn’t got a clue what it’s doing. It’s the worst parts of _Scorpion_ mixed with the worst parts of _NCIS:LA_. And that’s baaaaaaaad! And yet I feel compelled to watch the stupid thing. This. It took me three tries to get through the pilot episode without throwing something at the TV. Fortunately, that was the end of it for me. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/36 "2016-04-20T19:52:40Z")
Chicago PD. I like most of the characters but the rest of the show is about as deep as a kiddie pool. Originally I thought it would be a questionable morality show like “The Shield”, and it was at first, but it’s pretty bland now. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/37 "2016-04-20T20:03:19Z")
Tiny House: I watch and try to figure out what is psychologically wrong with people choosing to live in a garden tool shed. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/38 "2016-04-20T20:07:27Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > I watch the Hoarders shows (there are several, I’ll watch them all). They sicken me, sadden me, disgust me, and upset me, but their glimpses into the psychological processes that change people with basically normal lives into people controlled by junk fascinate me. I’ve been known to watch shows like that as motivation to clean up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/39 "2016-04-20T20:31:34Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Tiny House: > > I watch and try to figure out what is psychologically wrong with people choosing to live in a garden tool shed. Oh god. I have to turn those off now. I watched one (in horror) where it was a family with two little girls. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/40 "2016-04-20T21:49:10Z")
Recent addict to _Breaking Bad_. Last night I saw 4 episodes! Now, it has turned into a soap opera (Season three). I like the humor, but there is too much time… in between the laughs. I want to move on, but its got me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688.md?page=3)