Living with Amanda is interesting to say the least. She likes to watch these trashy shows on television and I can’t help but get sucked in. However, I’m not completely blaming Amanda for my peaked interest. My mom gets a large chunk of the blame for the reality tv monster I can become. You see, Mother dearest watched Survivor from Season one. And, let’s be real, so did I; 8-year-old Jon was kind of an evil genius. Sometimes I would get sent to bed early (for reasons I don’t want to talk about) and I realized that my bed, the hallway fish tank, and the TV lined up in such a way I could watch it whist in trouble.
Thursdays at 8pm was family time. Sometimes there was pizza, other times Chinese. Every time had my mom, brother and I gathered around the tv ready to kill a few of our brain cells. Reality tv has a pretty simple formula. People, cameras, last one standing wins. But it’s in all the odd things people do where, I think, all the best stuff comes from. I know that its probably semi-scripted, and editing can make anyone look good/bad, but suspension of disbelief is required for most forms of entertainment. However, the formula works. Survivor alone is on season umpteenth million and five.
Since I moved out, Survivor has slipped through the cracks of my regular viewings. I don’t know, It’s not the same without my mom. However, once Amanda got a hold of the remote, reality tv crept its way back into my life. And with it, comes someone I call, “Trash TV Jon.” Growing up with reality television as a core staple of my family life, I have gotten… loud and opinionated regarding which ever show it is I’m invested in at the time. I yell at the screen and pause it to ask if people just saw what happened, even though I know we are all looking at the same thing. It’s not a side of me that I’m necessarily proud of.
Big Brother, I never watched as a child as Mother didn’t like it. But Amanda really enjoys it, and I do now too. So, Amanda got to see this fun side of me (she might hate me). I get way too into that show! I even followed a twitter account, just so I could get live updates. It’s less a show and more of a lifestyle… Also, Big Brother Celebrity is starting soon, and I’m so pumped!
Another one Amanda watches, and I can’t help but love, is Ru Paul’s Drag Race. She turns it on every now and then. Five episodes later we head to bed. Those girls are good at what they do! Dresses are spectacular! Lip syncs are a blast!
That’s just good Television.