...This kind of goes along hand in hand with some things I said yesterday, so if you haven't read yesterday's entry then perhaps you should.

You know the old saying about one man's garbage being another man's treasure? Well, that applies to television too. After all, what someone may consider trainwreck television could be the one something that a bunch of other people really enjoy and think is wonderfully done. I wasn't targeting NCIS yesterday, for all the NCIS fans (of which I am one, but woefully missed last night's episode). I was just using it as an example that a local radio DJ (who is now unemployed, by the way for unrelated reasons) gave to me.

Now, that brings up something else interesting. Why do we love the shows we watch? Let's take 'Amazing Race' for a moment, since I admitted that's one of my television addictions. It's not formally scripted, it's not formally directed (at least not in the traditional sense), and it's just a bunch of people solving puzzles and tasks to get ahead of everyone else in the race. So why is it so enjoyable? Well, I think it goes back to the voyeur comment I made yesterday - I get to watch other people solve these sorts of things without being involved, without paying admission price (other than my satellite costs), and when the team members start fighting with each other right in front of me, I don't have that uncomfortable feeling of "should I stay or should I go" that one sometimes gets when people fight in front of them. Instead I either get to laugh, or comment on how stupid one of the people is being.

As DH says, 'it's good Snark-casm TV'. At least it was last race because I got to pick on that Italian family with the mother that was just like mine. I can't snark as much since I let the little girls watch the show too, but they make thier own comments about the teams that have to go and the ones that have to stay.

And then there's 'House'. Why do I watch that show? Well, he's ascerbic, he's cynical, he's downright mean, and he says what everyone else is thinking. I have to agree with that. And well, you can't beat Hugh Laurie trying to be a gruff American when he's really a rather soft-spoken British comedian. The writing is solid, the timing is fantastic, and the cast actually piques my curiosity about what their characters are going to do next. For someone else it might be trainwreck television, but not for me...

...or DH. He who never watches television actually likes the show. Go Figure.