Research, I tell you. RESEARCH! August 10, 2007

If I weren’t in the industry, some might call my relationship with television an addiction. However, since I’m in the industry, I can get away with calling it research.  
 
Here’s what you should be watching, mostly because, hey, you’re missing out but also so that we can discuss. Since I cannot persuade anyone I know to season pass Big Brother 8, for instance, I will try to brainwash the Internets so as to have an army of like-minded TV watchers at my disposal. Muahahaha!
 
Big Brother 8: A confession: I’ve never watched a season of Big Brother before. Yet now, about midway through the current season, I find myself wondering if all seven previous seasons are available on DVD because holy god, this show is so much better than you think it is. No, really. You may think “it’s too late to start watching” or “I don’t know what’s going on” but that’s the beauty of Big Brother: it’s edited for idiots. There’s seriously a five minute long recap at the start of each episode, and there are three episodes a week, so really there’s no excuse for not being up to speed. And, yes, you read that right – there are THREE episodes a week. Summer programming at its finest. I usually save all of mine for Sunday afternoon so that I can watch them in quick succession and then contemplate what’s going to go down in the house for the next six days. I am way, way, way too attached to this show.
 
The Fashionista Diaries: At first I was all SoapNet? Really? And, true, it is a very unlikely place to find a docu-soap that would be right at home airing after The Hills. In fact, the Fashionista Diaries is pretty much Whitney and Lauren’s internship, made into a television show, with a few handfuls of bitchiness and cattiness thrown in. It’s seriously great, y’all. Join me, will you, in hating skank-ass Bridget and loving Jane intern Rachel (but what will happen when Jane folds? Stay tuned…) and wondering if Nicole is an actress because a closer real-life Ugly Betty you could not find (seriously! She’s even from Queens!)
 
Kimora Lee Simmons: Life in the Fab Lane: To be perfectly honest, I never really thought about Kimora Lee Simmons before this show. Like, at all. And if she knew that about me she’d probably storm into my office and slap me around a few times because HOW DARE I NOT THINK OF HER AT LEAST A FEW HOURS A DAY? This lady, she is high on herself. And it is a fucking blast to watch, especially when her assistants cower in fear because bitch is like six feet and SCARY. Also, is it bad that I kind of relate to her semi-eating disorder? The “I can’t eat!” and the “this salad sucks!” What I can’t relate to, however, is having an assistant re-order your salad without the lettuce because you are just picking around the lettuce anyway. Kimora is TV gold, I can’t believe no one gave her a reality show earlier.
 
Rock of Love: There are no words. If you’re not watching this, you are dead to me. (But seriously, you need to watch this show. I’m sure VH1 will air a marathon this weekend. You can thank me on Monday with chocolate, sent directly to the office.)
 
Top Chef: My hatred for Padma aside, this is one of the only shows that I watch live because I can’t wait a half an hour to watch the DVR-ed version without commercials. Even this season, when there really isn’t anyone to root for (though Uniball CJ is certainly endearing and I like Brian Malarkey, if only for his last name, though I still haven’t determined whether or not he’s gay.) If anything, you can watch it for the Padma-hating, like my roommate and I do. Her outfits alone are sheer entertainment.
 
My Boys: If this were any other season but summer, I probably wouldn’t give this show the time of day. It isn’t that funny and the characters aren’t really interesting and dude, it’s not really an authentic account of a female sportswriter. Take the most recent episode, for instance: she turned down a relationship with a new Cubs pitcher because of journalistic integrity. Please excuse me while I double over in laughter because hi, YEAH RIGHT. However, I still watch the show. There’s something about it that’s kind of endearing.
 
Confessions of a Matchmaker: People in Buffalo are kinda funny. So is this show. Patty, the matchmaker, is a bitch with a heart of gold. Though none of her matchmaking (at least, in the episodes to date) has worked out, it has provided tons of entertainment. I even got M hooked on this one, and he is a very reluctant TV-watcher, especially when it comes to my shitty reality TV.