Guilty Pleasure Shows

I've begun watching a show call Bobcat Goldthwait's Mistfits and Monsters. It's terribly dumbed down, as the name in the title would suggest. So stupid that I am ashamed that I enjoy it so much. It's a guilty pleasure for me.

Big Brother is another guilty pleasure for me. Luckily, enough people like it that I don't feel entirely ostracized. However, when I have a number of shows in queue, Big Brother always jumps to the front of the line.

What are your guilty pleasure shows?

Quote :

What are your guilty pleasure shows?

My currently airing guilty pleasure shows ...

Preacher
Property Brothers
Wynona Earp

lol all the Gordon Ramsay shows, Graham Norton

I've been watching some Columbo reruns.

My wife wondered what happened to his eye.

I told her that it's probably in a case in the Smithsonian, next to his trenchcoat.

Hehe, of course she meant how did he lose his eye.

Columbo was awesome back in the day. I'm wondering how it holds up now. i tried to watch an episode of Mash recently and it was pitiful, Laugh track would sound off at the worst jokes. Really, really bad. I wondered how the heck I used to find it funny. If that Mash was pushing the envelop back then, we've really evolved as a people.

We have evolved past the laugh track, so many laugh tracks back then. the writing was good, but the decision to use laugh tracks was ill advised. and the jokes fresher then, remember this is the 70s, been done many times over til 2018.

I wonder how Magnum will hold up now, vs the Magnum then. lots of style, very bad subtle jokes, great scenery, hawaii, the ferrari, the helicopter etc.

Big John wrote:

Columbo was awesome back in the day. I'm wondering how it holds up now. i tried to watch an episode of Mash recently and it was pitiful, Laugh track would sound off at the worst jokes. Really, really bad. I wondered how the heck I used to find it funny. If that Mash was pushing the envelop back then, we've really evolved as a people.

I think Colombo holds up pretty well, there were some pretty good guest actors and I enjoy Columbo's
approach to crime solving.  Always underestimated.


Yeah, I can't watch M*A*S*H, either,  it had its time.  I think it got pretty full of itself later on in its run.

Zaphod wrote:

I wonder how Magnum will hold  up now, vs the Magnum then. lots of style, very bad subtle jokes, great scenery, hawaii, the ferrari, the helicopter etc.

Hernandez is totally miscast, imo, looks way too young. Maybe the young folks will like it, but I'll hold on to the original.

MrBill60 wrote:

I've been watching some Columbo reruns.

My wife wondered what happened to his eye.

I told her that it's probably in a case in the Smithsonian, next to his trenchcoat.

Hehe, of course she meant how did he lose his eye.

I love Columbo and Peter Falk.  

Tell your wife, Falk had a tumor when he was about 3 years old and his eye had to be removed.

Falk wasn't the first choice for Columbo.  Believe it or not, the original choice was Bing Crosby.  Thankfully, he had retired and didn't want to work in television.  Falk went after the role and we should thank our lucky stars that he got it.  He's fabulous -- he is Columbo.

Knowing Hollywood, they'll probably try to reboot Columbo.  There is no other Columbo but Peter Falk.  If they do, they should consider calling it and the character "Dumbo", not to be confused with the Disney elephant,  and then I might watch it.  Just leave Columbo out of it.

How about New Orleans Detective Gumbo? That might work as a new show.

I could see that working. The classic line, "Oh, there was just one more thing," delivered in a slow cajun accent. Could actually be a lot of fun.

As for the OP (JC), i watched the first two episodes of Mifits and Monsters. The first one was stupid and a poor retread of Roger Rabbit. Seeing Seth Green working a dramatic role was its saving grace. I hadn't planned to watch the second episode, but i'm glad i did, as it sold me on the series. I love a good satire, even goofy ones, and that was a particularly rich example. I missed the third episode but will continue to watch when i can stay up late enough.

I don't think the rest of the eps are gonna take on politics. Not sure they'll have any social commentary at all for that matter. It's just so inane though.

I also have watched the series run so far of The Last Man On Earth starring Will Forte, January Jones, and Mary Steenburgen. Another inane screwball sitcom about a plague that wiped out the entire population except for six or seven of the stupidest people imaginable. Sort of like what happened to us with LTV.

i could have seen a magnum reboot with selleck as an older crime solver. i'm a geezer yes but that could have been quite good.

sandi wrote:

Quote :

What are your guilty pleasure shows?

My currently airing guilty pleasure shows ...

Preacher
Property Brothers
Wynona Earp

I haven't heard anything awful about those shows. Not sure I'd count them as guilty pleasure, unless you actually think they're dumb but watch them anyway.

I'm talking more about the lowest common denominator type shows, the likes of which I just can't picture you tolerating.

Big John wrote:

I'm talking more about the lowest common denominator type shows, the likes of which I just can't picture you tolerating.

Examples?

The Bachelor, Big Brother, South Park, Real Housewives, Rupaul's Drag Race, etc...

Zaphod wrote:

i could have seen a magnum reboot with selleck as an older crime solver. i'm a geezer yes but that could have been quite good.

I would watch that.

Big John wrote:

The Bachelor, Big Brother, South Park, Real Housewives, Rupaul's Drag Race, etc...

Well you got me, BJ. I definitely wouldn't tolerate the likes of those programs. Now I'm not in any way, saying anything adverse about anyone who does enjoy those programs -- they're just not my cup of tea and I wouldn't watch any of them -- well maybe South Park if I had to watch something.

Does ecchi anime count as a guilty pleasure? Especially comedic ecchi. That is, shows where the "jiggle factor" is used for humor, usually to put the male protagonist in embarrassing situations, rather than for titillation.

One I am watching currently is an Isekai or alternate world show with the English title How (Not) to Summon a Demon Lord. The prot is a socially inept gamer otaku who has spent so much time playing a fantasy world on-line RPG similar to World of Warcraft that he is that server's ultimate demon lord. Then, in a twist which can only happen in anime because writers get stuck on a concept and beat it to death finding different mechanisms to activate it, he get summoned to an alternate world which is exactly like the game world in which he is playing. Convenient, he doesn't need to learn anything about the world because he already knows most of it. He was summoned there by a runaway Elf princess and a young woman who is a member of a species that is dog-human mix, sort of an anthropomorphism. They wanted to enslave him, each for their own uses, but because he was so high powered it backfired and they wound up with slave collars. oops. This sets the meta for the show...he is trying to find a wway to get the collars of the girls and help them with their problems, because he really is a good guy despite the social awkwardness, and also find a way to get back home.

Tough call, TBC. I don't think anyone who watches them actually feels like they're a guilty pleasure. My experience with fans of those shows is that they are quick to recommend them. I'm not so fast to recommend Big Brother, and when I do I always include some sort of disclaimer like 'this show will make you dumber'.

However, those with little or no exposure to ecchi anime think you're all totally juvenile. I suppose the litmus test is whether or not you feel like you're watching good, quality programming. If you do, then there's nothing to feel guilty about.

adding Episodes to my list - starring Matt LeBlanc and some brit actors I like. Parts are silly but overall the writing is pretty good. Matt L is just so cheesy.

eta: Stormchasers, on Discovery or youtube. I dunno, something about watching people chase tornadoes is just FUN. totally samey after awhile, but hearing the 'excitement' in Reed Timmer's voice and how he's trying to create drama, just great fun. The same fun I get from Deadliest Catch, tho theirs is a bit better as its GENUINE - those guys can die in the open seas in bad weather, and the injuries happen a lot and they are REAL. Plus I can't imagine how much I would an a**hole if I did what the crabbers had to do daily.

I enjoyed an early season of Ice Road Truckers and it was suspenseful watching them drive over a  frozen bay as the ice cracks beneath the tires. You never knew when a truck will go kerplunk or get caught in an avalanche.

MrBill60 wrote:

You never knew when a truck will go kerplunk or get caught in an avalanche.

How often does that happen? I dont't think I could watch a whole season just waiting for that sort of disaster, but I'd definitely watch the highlight reel.

Big John wrote:

Another inane screwball sitcom about a plague that wiped out the entire population except for six or seven of the stupidest people imaginable. Sort of like what happened to us with LTV.

"Imagine if a plane crashed and only the sexy people survived."
Imagine if a forum disintegrated and only we few decided to migrate.

Zaphod wrote:

i could have seen a magnum reboot with selleck as an older crime solver. i'm a geezer yes but that could have been quite good.

Disagree. Not about the geezer part. But seriously you'd need really good writing for that show to work, and its premise would drive away really good writers.

Big John wrote:

The Bachelor, Big Brother, South Park, Real Housewives, Rupaul's Drag Race, etc...

South Park is lowest common denominator now?

MrBill60 wrote:

I enjoyed an early season of Ice Road Truckers and it was suspenseful watching them drive over a  frozen bay as the ice cracks beneath the tires. You never knew when a truck will go kerplunk or get caught in an avalanche.

That's an interesting take on "guilty." Sorta like folks who only watch NASCAR for the crashes.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

Big John wrote:

The Bachelor, Big Brother, South Park, Real Housewives, Rupaul's Drag Race, etc...

South Park is lowest common denominator now?

I'm not sure. Let's ask Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo.

Big John wrote:

Tough call, TBC. I don't think anyone who watches them actually feels like they're a guilty pleasure. My experience with fans of those shows is that they are quick to recommend them. I'm not so fast to recommend Big Brother, and when I do I always include some sort of disclaimer like 'this show will make you dumber'.

However, those with little or no exposure to ecchi anime think you're all totally juvenile. I suppose the litmus test is whether or not you feel like you're watching good, quality programming. If you do, then there's nothing to feel guilty about.

Well, those with little to no exposure to anime, period, think anyone who is into it is juvenile simply because the titles most popular outside Japan are shonen, that is targeted at the 12-15 year-old male demographic.

With ecchi anime there are varying levels of content, in both senses. How much skin they show and how much of the show is skin, I guess is the best way to put it. I have taken to breaking down ecchi into three broad categories based on the latter. It's become common practice to release a censored version of a show for broadcast, with content covered by beams of sunlight, a show logo, wisps of steam if it's in a bath, and then have these gone in the Blu-Ray version. So...first category: If a show is rendered unwatchable by the censoring then it's a horrible show to begin with. Those are the ones that give ecchi a bad name, but there are two more categories. Second category is shows which have a great storyline, great art, nice characters and plot development but have the female characters losing their tops on occasion...or hinting that they might, These work well if it's part of the show concept. If it isn't it brings up the third category, rare but I have seen it, shows which could be good but are actually ruined by ecchi. Hey writers...the show was going somewhere this episode until all the girls decided to head off to the onsen together leaving the plot hanging.

Should mention, How (Not) To Summon A Demon Lord needs no censoring. a bit of suggestive costuming yes, but everything is kept under wraps.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

MrBill60 wrote:

I enjoyed an early season of Ice Road Truckers and it was suspenseful watching them drive over a  frozen bay as the ice cracks beneath the tires. You never knew when a truck will go kerplunk or get caught in an avalanche.

That's an interesting take on "guilty." Sorta like folks who only watch NASCAR for the crashes.

<~~~ Guilty

Big John wrote:

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

MrBill60 wrote:

I enjoyed an early season of Ice Road Truckers and it was suspenseful watching them drive over a  frozen bay as the ice cracks beneath the tires. You never knew when a truck will go kerplunk or get caught in an avalanche.

That's an interesting take on "guilty." Sorta like folks who only watch NASCAR for the crashes.

<~~~ Guilty

500 miles of "Go real fast, turn left, repeat" and since restrictor plates were forced on the cars everyone has been bunched into one solid mass. What other reason is there for watching?

NASCAR has evolved so much since i was a kid. Almost all for the worst imo. I honestly don't remember the last time i watched a whole race, probably because i had to blind drunk to make it all the way through. It's been at least fifteen years since i've been able to watch more than a few laps. I don't know the racers anymore and barely even understand how the teams work - which btw is imo the absolute worst single thing about the evolution, though it's certainly understandable that the teams work the way the way do given things like the glaring ridiculousness of restrictor chips.

Which segues nicely to Ridiculousness, a lowest-common-denominator favorite of my own. I think this show has the best writing on MTV since Mike Judge's first few B&B seasons. Not many people realize that it's scripted though.

Another LCD show worth mentioning is Live: P.D., which Mrs. Mo just LURVES. I will admit here that it is possible i protest a bit too much, though for the most part i genuinely dislike watching it. There are moments that make it all worth it, sort of like the first Paranormal Activity film.

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I really haven't kept up on anime over the last 25-30 years, as i think TBC knows well. Ecchi, to me, sounds like it belongs in this thread.

________

As for South Park, it definitely was NOT an LCD show when Mr. Hankey was introduced, but that was a LONG time ago. I followed the first 4 or 5 seasons closely and have seen a bunch of it since then - it's definitely lost something. I'm not convinced that it's sunk to the level of guilty pleasure. I feel more guilty watching Family Guy, which was also quite good in its early seasons.

Right. A piece of shit bouncing around wearing a Christmas hat leaving brown spots in its wake is mos def not low common denominator entertainment.

Maybe you think that's high brow stuff right there mo. In that case, nothing to feel guilty about. South Park, even though it touches on political themes from time to time which is probably what impresses you, is one of the lowest of the lowest common denominator shows ever made. Potty humor galore.