I feel like I’m supposed to be equally guilty about both of the following for different reasons as they’re both hated by many for different reasons, but some of my favourite TV shows at the moment are either wanky cultural discussion shows or bottom of the barrel trash TV. It’s all that middle brow stuff that I hate.
My guiltiest pleasure of all right now is Take Me Out. Of all the people who usually have Twitter and TV on the go, no one dares admit to watching Take me out, even though the same people are all over X Factor when it’s warbling season. I wonder if they’re afraid of the TTP*.
And then, on the (usually wonderful) Anti Room this morning I start to read the scathing words “Take Me Out is probably one of the most horrendously sexist shows ever dreamed up by a bunch of TV executives. ‘Scraping the barrel’ doesn’t even come close.” and I think “here we go“, all the while agreeing but still thinking “Yes but I can’t stop watching it!“. And then I get to the following line. “But here’s the rub: I. Cannot. Stop. Watching. It.” and I laughed so loud, the cat woke up with a jerk and fell off my desk.
That’s it in a nutshell. It’s the cheesiest shclock in years yet I can’t stop watching. I’m as intrigued as I would be were I watching a documentary about the mating habits of an alien species. To me, people who happily take part in a live cattle market, albeit tongue-in-cheek, are about as alien as they come. Cannot. Stop. Watching. Indeed.
So there we go. The Take Me Out fan club starts here, or rather there. And the TTP* can fuck right off.
*Two big groups you get on Twitter are
1. People watching shit TV but having fun on Twitter giving out about it.
2. The TTP (Twitter Taste Police). People giving out about people watching shit TV but having fun on Twitter giving out about it.
There’s a fine line between the two really but you have to wonder about the latter’s quality time if they spend their night on Twitter giving out about the former’s quality time. No Likey, no lighty!
March 21, 2011, 2:24 pm
I dunno about Take Me Out (I’m more of a highbrow guy myself – Dragons Den, ANTM, My great thingy traveller wedding, and a withering array of reality cookery that I am forced to watch) – but “I laughed so loud, the cat woke up with a jerk and fell off my desk” is out and away the funniest thing I’ve read on the web for a long time. I nearly p*****d myself laughing, so tell your cat that!
March 23, 2011, 12:48 pm
Ha – good to hear!
I’ve never really got food tv – I like to eat it for sure but no interest in watching it.
March 31, 2011, 3:29 pm
Share the love John – What channel, What day/time?? Sounds like a laugh…!
March 31, 2011, 3:47 pm
UK one either seems to be either over or moved from prime time. It’s on itv1 at11:35 on Friday (but might be a repeat)
http://www.itv.com/takemeout/
And the irish one is more clearly off air:
http://www.tv3.ie/shows.php?request=takemeout
What great timing I have!
April 3, 2011, 7:50 am
I got really into it when I was heavily pregnant. I even have a hazy memory of watching it through the start of my contractions! I didn’t realise there was an English version. No time for tv at the moment but once Winter is here again I may start up again.