Confessions Of A TV Addict!

Thank goodness "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" were on Saturday night or my parents would force me to miss all that cheese and Charo. I was absolutely addicted to "Knot's Landing" but was forbidden to watch it because of its racy content and late timeslot. Of course, nowadays "Knot's Landing" looks more like "Little House On The Prairie" compared to some of the sexually charged shows on the tube. I was, I think, nine when the show started -- so Sandy and Stu had every right to try and protect my innocence.

However, my parents allowed me to have TV in my bedroom (which certainly helped lead me on the path to being a TV addict.) but the problem was they could see the light underneath the door. So they knew when I was still up watching TV. Bedtime was 9 PM as a kid so to fool my parents I would take the TV off my dresser and put it under the bed. Then I would lie on my stomach with my head dangling over and watch "Knot's Landing" upside down. Oh, how I longed to be Abby Ewing's adopted daughter. 

In college, I could be found not at the library but rather in my dorm room getting caught up on "Beverly Hills, 90210" and all its high school drama. Now that I was a college student, Brenda and Kelli seemed so young and immature to me but I could relate to their teenage angst anyway. The irony is that we are all the exact same age now despite my superior college chip on my shoulder for these ladies. Later, "Melrose Place" would enter my life and a new ritual was born - Melrose Mondays - where my friends and I would gather round the TV for cocktails and cat fights.

Later it was "Friends" and "Seinfeld" to keep me occupied (Oh, how I miss true Must See TV!) until one hot summer in New York City I had nothing to do and along came "Survivor" - The reality show that changed everything. Sure "The Real World" had come along in the '90s and other shows that claim to be reality TV were around, but "Survivor" was something so different, so unique. I was glued to the tube along with 16 million other people on Wednesday nights, an unheard of audience for a summer TV show.

"Survivor" not only brought reality into all of our lives it brought summer programming as well. No longer were we forced to watch reruns of crappy shows we didn't watch in the first place. Now we had something new and fresh to sink our teeth into which brings up the whole reason for this blog --I am officially addicted to Bravo.

There I said it. Someone should start a 12-step program for Bravo addicts. Tonight, instead of enjoying our long day of sunlight I'm glued to my TV watching "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" verbally bitch slap each other on a reunion show. Fortunately, I don't have to watch it upside down -- though if my parents saw this trash they may actually find a way to still ground me so I can't watch it.

The thing is I never paid the Bravo network much attention until I was invited to do a story on "The Real Housewives of Orange County" last year. Suddenly, I found myself drinking in this delightful elixir of wealth, excess, bitchery and backstabbing. Then along came the NYC Housewives and the Atlanta Housewives. Then I was introduced to the "Millionaire Matchmaker" and suddenly my HGTV obsession with restless homeowners on "House Hunters" was eclipsed by watching trashy women throw themselves at unattractive, rich, older men with zero redeeming qualities. The latest up is "NYC Prep" with those snotty rich kids who think they are cool and don't want to be compared to the "Gossip Girl" gang (but secretly wish their lives were half as interesting as Chuck and Blair's). Alas, I will still watch it. 

Is all this TV bad for our brains? Of course! Shouldn't we be reading a book? Yes. Aren't there bigger problems in the world? Absolutely.

However, there is nothing wrong with escaping into someone else's drama and debauchery for a little while. It's how I survived my teens, my twenties and now in my thirties... I get paid for it!

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