It is not a GUILTY pleasure!

The BBQ Pit
1

And don’t roll your eyes at me, you “Price is Right” watcher!

Last night, Mr. and Mrs. Across Town came to visit. They’ve never seen Two Towers, and were anxious to view it before going to see ROTK. We have the extended edition, so there you are.

We had to stop a few times, because Mrs. Across Town, not having read the books either, kept making inquiries about the characters, plot, and so forth. During one of these interludes, I started tweaking the TV to make sure everything was okay to record “American Idol”. (We have a DVD burner and a DVD player, so it’s possible to record one thing and watch another.)

Mr. A-T: “What are you setting up for?”

Me: “‘American Idol’.”

Mr. A-T: :rolleyes:

Me: “Excuse me? Was that an eye-roll?”

Mr. A-T: “Yes it was.”

Me: :dubious:

Mr. A-T: “Oh, it’s okay; we all have our guilty pleasures!”

Me: “It is not a guilty pleasure. It’s not like “The Simple Life” or something.”

Mr. Rilch: “It’s a good show. She’s gotten me into it. It’s interesting to watch; it’s like an election, except you don’t have to worry that the winner will get us nuked.”

Mrs. A-T: “Yeah, I don’t watch, but it sounds like an okay show. They’re actually doing something to win, not just taking off their clothes and fighting with each other!”

Mr. A-T: “Ooooooooo-kay…”

Really, man. If you think Fantasia’s gonna win (I call George), that’s okay. If you think Simon is a jerk (I don’t; he just doesn’t sugarcoat anything), that’s okay too. If you think John Stevens should just go back to school already (I still like him, but after last night, I’m no longer inclined to go to the mat for him), that’s also okay. If you’ve never watched the show, then you just haven’t.

But if you haven’t, like he hasn’t, and therefore have no basis for disliking it except that it’s another unscripted show, then keep your :rolleyes: to yourself. I mean, this is a guy who watches reruns of “Price is Right” on the Game Show Network, for gossakes! Not only that, he watches NASCAR! Not that I have a problem with auto racing, but you’d think he’s understand what it’s like to have people roll their eyes at your pastime—and racing is something that’s on all the time, not just for half a season! He once told me, when a scheduling conflict came up, “Missing the race is not an option.”

I mean, it’d be one thing if he had
So don’t roll your eyes at me.

(And no, I didn’t bring any of that up to him. Just saying it here.)

2

Isn’t is a tadge rude, no, fucking rude to roll one’s eyes at one’s hosts choice in TV watching?

Rude, rude, rude, rude, RUDE.

3

I believe it is, Tansu.

BTW, disregard this: I mean, it’d be one thing if he had Preview is my friend…

4

I guess it would depend on how tight you are with the host. My husband watches NASCAR and I give him the roll-eyes, the heavy sigh, and the clanging dishes in the next room (and the occasional "Oops! sorry hon. I accidentally changed the station!). Of course, we sleep together, so it’s all good.

5

Well, it certainly wasn’t anything I wanted to throw down over. But I still thought it was uncool.

What I posted wasn’t word-for-word, of course, and when I was composing, I forgot that at one point, he said, “‘American Idol’, indeed.” To which I said, “Yes, indeed.” I mean, really. He’d expressed his disdain once already; he didn’t have to do it again. And as I said, he’s got some middlebrow tastes himself: TPIR and NASCAR aren’t all of it. But I’ve never rolled my eyes at him. Not even when he told me about his hobby of “DXing”.

I dunno; maybe he was trying to be funny. But I despise it when people keep ragging on what you’re interested in, as if you’ll eventually recant.

6

Miss Manners makes a specific exception for anything on FOX that hasn’t proven its quality by getting cancelled.

7

IS there a show where people just take off their clothes and fight? If so, I’d be very interested in watching it.

8

And here I thought it was some kind of haiku. Had such a nice ring to it.

Anyway, the “heavy sigh” is right up there on my list of “Things that will make my head explode and steam come out of my ears just before I have to restrain myself to kick you out of the house”. Heavy sighs and rolled eyes have no business in conversation anywhere as they imply the moral superiority of the sigher in contrast to the utter stupidity of the sighee. And that’s just rude, regardless of subject.

9

Seacrest…OUT!

:rolleyes:

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

10

Ah, but it should be!

11

Well, it’s not!

Wanna get together, say after 5 on Sunday?

:smiley:

12

Is it a guilty pleasure if you only watch the first two episodes to see Simon make fun of the terrible singers? :slight_smile:

13

I will admit to doing some hidden eye rolling with one entertainment choice only: The Left Behind series of books.

I do it and I’m sorry and I try not to.

Otherwise, I tend to ask people to tell me what particular programs/books are like. Heck, maybe I’d like it too. And no, it’s not that I’m a blindingly tolerant sort of person (though I try to be). It’s just that I’ve always found entertainment in strange places and am always looking for something new to watch/read.

14

RILCHIAM…COME ON DOWN!
You’re the next person I pit!

EXCUSE ME?

I hope that isn’t a diss on my show. When your silly song show is on for 600 years like PIR, then we’ll talk.

HMPH.

Does that silly song show have a showcase showdown?
NO!

Don’t even try to front, biatch!

This rant reminds you to please spay or neuter your pets.
:wink:

15

I get a lot of scorn at work for mentioning Idol. Maybe we can form a support group for AI watchers who really aren’t reality TV viewers. I try to explain that AI isn’t like any other reality show because the premise is a real one (get a recording contract) and the tasks (singing a song each week) are not contrived or stupid. Anyway, I’ve learned that once people have seen it a couple of times they become addicted even with all the nonsense on the show, because it’s inherintly compelling to see ordinary people pursuing their dreams and having those dreams crushed.

16

But it’s watching American Idol goddamit, that is not something you should admit to in pleasant company.

17

skutir, I want in on that support group.

Dung Beetle, AI watcher who has never so much as clapped an eyeball on The Bachelor, Joe Millionaire, Survivor, Big Brother, etc.

18

So you were going to tape “American Idol” instead of “Cops”? :rolleyes:

:smiley:

19

I had a rather low opinion of American Idol at first – tho I do believe I restrained myself from doing the eyeroll, since I get said eyeroll fairly often when I talk about watching pro wrestling – but one of my housemates has been watching it and, since my computer desk is in the living room, I’ve been watching it too.

It’s more interesting than I thought. I was practically glued to it tonight. Their tech doesn’t impress me (the soloists’ mike never seems to be turned up quite high enough, the camera keeps getting flashed by the lights, someone popped a P into the mike, etc) but it’s fun to see people try out new songs and either nail 'em or crash ‘n’ burn.

Last night, for example, everyone was singing Elton John songs. Elton has a very large range, so a fair number of the singers did more poorly than usual because they just couldn’t match the range of the song. (“Tonight, somewhere in Las Vegas, a TV set is being thrown out a hotel window. That’s where Elton John is staying.”)

Anyone else think Latoya London is a name straight out of porn? :smiley:

20

can you roll your eyes and make snide comments if you actually watced several episodes before deciding it was so much crap?

That show actually made me hate music. And the “good” singers disgusted me more than the people who obviously sucked. It took me weeks to recover…