Unreal reality TV

Talk about it

Blame it on my mother, rest her soul, but I can’t help feeling guilty anytime I find myself veg’ing out in front of the television. I can still recall her telling my brothers and me that it was too nice to be inside and to get out and play. Usually followed if you can’t find anything better to do than watch television I can find plenty better ways to occupy your time.

We knew her options were nowhere near as much fun as watching television or even going outside to play.

I grew up in Arizona, so granted it was always nice, and to her credit seldom if the weather is nice here am I inside. Still, I have to admit to spending way too much time in front of the idiot box.

I would like to tell you the majority of that time is spent dialed into PBS, The History Channel, National Geographic Network, at least one of the news networks, but no. I’m either falling to sleep watching some ball game or worse yet, a few reality shows.

I got hooked a couple years ago on the Taps (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) show about ghost hunters. A friend confided that it was like watching a train wreck; you know you shouldn’t look but can’t help yourself. I wasn’t hostage to the show because I believe in ghosts, but for comic relief watching the goofs stumbling around in the dark at old places trying to convince us viewers that noises and ghouls that couldn’t be seen with the human eyes or ears are proof that ghosts exist.

Since then, there have been a host of other mind-numbing shows from hunting alligators to finding bigfoot that have kept me from doing anything productive. The best or worst of the lot depending how you look at it is A&E’s “Storage Wars.”

I thought it was my own guilty pleasure until I found out it had the highest viewership of all reality shows. (Which speaks volumes about me and our society?) A&E describes the show as the real-life series which follows four professional buyers and their teams as they scour repossessed storage units in search of hidden treasure. Part gamblers, part detectives, these seasoned veterans have found everything from coffins to the world’s most valuable comic book collection, paying as little as $10 for items valued in the millions.

Who could refuse right?

This morning I found out one of the stars who was fired is suing the producers claiming the whole show is really an elaborate fabrication. No one ever accused me of being the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I must admit to being completely shocked that there was anyone who watched the show that hadn’t figured that out in the first five minutes of watching.

I have no doubt his revelation is not going to get me off the couch and any closer to cleaning the garage on Tuesday nights. Quite the opposite. I’m eagerly anticipating the next logical reality show “Storage Wars Goes to Court.”

Brock is the publisher of The Dickinson Press.

Tags: storage wars, opinion, reality, tv