# Why are the women I love almost always on shows I hate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770 "2004-01-10T02:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/1 "2004-01-10T02:57:23Z")
Jessica Alba–_Dark Angel_ Allison Hannigan–_Buffy_ Kristin Kreuk–_Superboy Suck-Fest_ Eliza Dushku–_Tru Calling_ Nadia Bjorlin–_Days of Our Lives_ Vanessa Lengies–_American Dreams_ (Every time I see that nose I almost plotz.) Samaire Armstrong–_Thee O.C._ (Because it’s _thee_ Orange County.) Jolene Blalock–_That Damn Star Trek Show W/ That Quantum Leap Guy_ (As long as she isn’t a blonde.) Catherine Bell–_Single Female Military Lawyer_ Jennifer Garner–_Alias_ Katie Holmes–_Dawson’s Crick_ Jessica Biel–_The Preacher & Family Show_ Kelly Monaco–_General Hospital_ Stacy Keibler–_Wrasslin’_ Jennifer Love Hewitt–What was she on?? Portia DelRossi–_Single Female Lawyer_ Exceptions: Portia DelRossi–_Arrested Development_ Paige Davis–_Trading Spaces_ Shego–_Kim Possible_ (But she’s a cartoon, dammit!) More evidence that the universe hates me. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/2 "2004-01-10T03:18:13Z")
It is odd. I’ll tune into a movie or TV show I normally wouldn’t care about if it has one of my favorite actors (someone like Johnny Depp, Ed Norton, Bruce Campbell, or Christopher Walken), but an actress I like is usually not enough to get me to watch. I’ve never made time for Charmed, despite starring the gorgeous Rose McGowan AND Alyssa Milano. The idea of watching Dawson’s Creek turned my stomach, so too bad, so sad, Katie Holmes. Jennifer Connelly is one of my favorite actresses, and probably my #1 celebrity crush ever since she made The Rocketeer, but I STILL won’t go see her in terribly depressing-looking films like House of Sand and Fog or Requiem For a Dream. My biggest exception is 30-Minute Meals With Rachael Ray. I’ll usually stick around, whether I’m interested in what meal she’s making or not. However, she’s so awesome at what she does, I’m usually as interested in the meal as I am in her! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/3 "2004-01-10T07:48:19Z")
I love that chick from Will and Grace, but alas, I hate the show… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/4 "2004-01-10T08:46:21Z")
The actresses you’ve listed are all young, pretty women. You’re not interested in them because you think that they’re great actresses but because you think that they’re really hot. That sort of eye-candy actress is, for obvious reasons, mostly found in mediocre TV shows where the emphasis isn’t on the weak plotlines but on the looks of the actors and actresses. As long as these shows have lots of viewers who think the actors and actresses are hot, why should the networks bother with getting good scripts for the shows? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/5 "2004-01-10T15:59:29Z")
Kelly Rippa is another one. She’s on that show with that other hot chick. I don’t even know the name of the show, but I really don’t like it, but I end up watching it after a long day of work just to veg out. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/6 "2004-01-10T19:31:24Z")
Tea Leoni - _The Naked Truth_ I watched this show only to watch her on screen. Not a really good show in any other respect. And she never did get naked. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/7 "2004-01-10T21:24:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Big Bad Voodoo Lou \* > \*\*…but an actress I like is usually not enough to get me to watch. \*\* My bad. I don’t watch. Somehow, that makes it worse. It means that I’m weak, too. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Wendell Wagner_ > **You’re not interested in them because you think that they’re great actresses but because you think that they’re really hot.** Well, yeah. We’re not talking about Laura D’Andrea Tyson here. Do you really think they’re mediocre actresses? Once the acting reaches a level above horrible, it all looks the same to me. Oh, and for the record, Stacey Kiebler isn’t acting–_Wrasslin’_ is real. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/8 "2004-01-10T21:41:47Z")
js\_africanus writes: \> Do you really think they’re mediocre actresses? Actually, I said that they’re in mediocre TV series, not that they are mediocre actresses. As to the quality of their acting, well, all I said was that at the moment they’re just eye candy. Who knows whether they will be great actresses? They’re not being challenged in the parts they have at the moment. Probably some of them will eventually mature into great actresses. One or two of them will probably eventually get an Oscar and give interviews in which she makes fun of the silly roles she did as a young actress. And that will be somewhat disingenuous, since the only reason she was hired for those silly roles was because she was hot-looking when she was young. The producers of those TV shows don’t care whether the leads are great actresses because all they care worry about are good ratings, and they’ve found that a hot young women is sufficient to insure good ratings. The actresses themselves don’t care as long as they are getting well paid for a steady acting job (and getting some experience toward the day when they can get better roles). And you apparently don’t care that the scripts are no good, because you watch the shows anyway. As long as the quality of the scripts doesn’t affect the ratings of the shows, why should the networks care that such shows are, at some level, not very good? ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/9 "2004-01-10T22:06:00Z")
**js\_africanus** : looking at your list, I almost wonder whether there is _any_show you like. 😉 I mean, _Buffy_, come on! BTW, Jennifer Love Hewitt was (like Jennifer Garner) on the sitcom _Time of your life_. I know because I watched a couple of eps. I find it impressive that you actually are able to watch a show with a hot babe and still manage to keep your critical faculties up and running. I tend to go ‘Wow’ and not care about the quality of plot or writing anymore. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/10 "2004-01-10T22:35:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > \*\* And you apparently don’t care that the scripts are no good, because you watch the shows anyway. \*\* > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by js\_africanus_ > **My bad. I don’t watch.** > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Tusculan_ > \*\*…looking at your list, I almost wonder whether there is any show you like. I mean, _Buffy_, come on! \*\* Sorry, man. _Buffy_ can’t be all bad. Lots of people w/ taste really seem to like it; I’m just not one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/11 "2004-01-10T22:49:00Z")
I’m confused. How do you know that the shows are bad if you’ve never watched them? In any case, somebody out there is watching those shows mostly because he thinks the actresses are hot. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/12 "2004-01-11T05:28:45Z")
Wow, if you hate all those shows, you must have terrible taste. 😛 I mean, I watch/watched five of those shows, and I have great taste so… 😃 What do you watch, reality TV? CNN? Cop shows? ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/13 "2004-01-11T09:10:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > \*\*What do you watch, reality TV? CNN? Cop shows? \*\* _What do we want?_ **Hot Chicks on CNN!** _When do we want it?_ **Now!** _What do we want?_ **Hot Chicks on CNN!** _When do we want it?_ **Now!** . ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/14 "2004-01-11T13:52:50Z")
I watched “Charmed” when it had both Alyssa Milano and Shannon Doherty. When Ms. Doherty left the babe factor dropped below critical, so I stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/15 "2004-01-11T14:56:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Khadaji \* > \*\*I love that chick from Will and Grace, but alas, I hate the show… \*\* I am so with you on this one. Debra Messing is luscious, but god, I cannot stand that show… ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/16 "2004-01-11T22:32:11Z")
**Jenna Elfman** is extraordinarily hot, and quite a charming actress, but I’ve never been particularly impressed by **Dharma and Greg**. I’m not even sure if it’s still on. Perhaps the greatest ever confluence between a talented and gorgeous actress and a fantastic show was **Claire Danes** in **My So Called Life**. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/17 "2004-01-11T23:06:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > \*\* How do you know that the shows are bad if you’ve never watched them? \*\* I didn’t say they’re bad, I said I hate them. I didn’t say I’ve never seen them, I said I don’t watch them. Now stop gas-lighting me. I don’t do Happy Crazy, so don’t make me snap. Think of the children. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by elfkin477_ > **Wow, if you hate all those shows, you must have terrible taste.** > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by js\_africanus_ > **Buffy can’t be all bad. Lots of people w/ taste really seem to like it; I’m just not one of them.** I’m not a writer. It took _effort_ to craft that straight line. Throw me a bone! > [@](#): > > **I mean, I watch/watched five of those shows, and I have great taste so… What do you watch, reality TV? CNN? Cop shows?** _Arrested Development_, _Trading Spaces_, & _Kim Possible_. _Simpsons_. Otherwise, it’s channel surfing for hours. Maybe I gotta go back to Ritalin, or kick up the Concerta. It’s pretty sad when you realize that you don’t even have the attention span for television. I can’t even remember the last time I sat down and read a book. My life sucks. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/18 "2004-01-11T23:36:32Z")
I would also add to this Jill Hennessy and “Crossing Jordan”. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/19 "2004-01-11T23:43:44Z")
I know what the OP means. I’m a liberal Democrat and yet I tune into the Fox News Channel’s morning blabfest “Fox & Friends” just to watch lovely Lauren Green read the news headlines. Yes, I am pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770/20 "2004-01-12T02:05:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tusculan \* > \*\* > BTW, Jennifer Love Hewitt was (like Jennifer Garner) on the sitcom _Time of your life_. I know because I watched a couple of eps. \*\* Which, of course, comprises its entire run. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-women-i-love-almost-always-on-shows-i-hate/223770.md?page=2)