I’ll admit it: I’m an addict. It’s a horrible habit that, after so many years, I just can’t kick. It’s available, it’s affordable and, hey, it makes me feel good about myself. And even though it’s probably damaging for me in the long run, I just can’t stop.

Yeah, I’m a consumer of the Kardashian culture. I watch the shows (the originals, the spin-offs and Dancing With The Stars when one is competing), I read the interviews, I follow the obnoxious tweets. And recently, people like Daniel Craig, Jonah Hill and Barbara Walters are calling me out on my fascination with the most overexposed and yet untalented people on television, the Kardashians. Read More »

When you look up reality TV on Wikipedia, at the bottom of the page it says, “See Also: Low Culture.” Umm, what? Low culture, Wikipedia? You think because I sit around on holidays watching Dance Moms marathons and almost every night I have a huge list of reality shows clogging up my DVR that I’m low culture? Excuse me, but I watch Top Chef. Gourmet Food=High Culture. I have also seen a few episodes of Work of Art. Art is high culture, wouldn’t you say, Mr. Wikipedia Man?

So obviously I admit to watching reality TV, and I’m totally not ashamed. But there are some reality stars that I am a little ashamed to admit that I love. I’m not talking about Spencer and Heidi or Omarosa; I actually do hate them. These are stars that I really love, but would probably lie about any day of the week (except the days I’m given a lie detector test). Read More »

What reality show would you go on?

There’s going to be another Austin Powers Movie

Still not really sure what Reese’s tattoo is

The Hogan family always manages to top themselves in creepy

We’re really too excited for Missoni for Target

How to dip dye your hair

Guess which city has the most romantic men

The coffee book you need in your house

Taylor Lautner is nude in ’30 Minutes or Less’?!

And the latest in completely expected and not at all shocking news? Teen Mom ‘s Jenelle Evans headed to rehab this week (read all about it here) to get away from all the stress of her life and learn how to cope.  Not that she doesn’t have anything she’s rehabilitating from, that is. Her trip to rehab comes right after Evans pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia, but apparently Evans has been clean for weeks now and just needs some time to get her priorities in order.

Right.

If anyone has ever seen an episode of Teen Mom, it’s probably no surprise that Evans ended up in rehab. The girl couldn’t stop partying to take care of her own kid, got arrested with drugs on her and stole from her mom to take a road trip with her freeloading boyfriend. But with this latest development in an ongoing saga of reality shows gone wrong we couldn’t help but think back to a question we posed not too long ago: Should MTV be doing More for Their Teen Moms? Read More »

When I first heard about MTV’s new reality show, Downtown Girls, I initially thought – “Oh Great, another version of The Hills/The City.” I couldn’t have been any more off in my reality show predictions. Downtown Girls was TV show love at first sight. Featuring five friends that live in New York City, Downtown Girls seems to actually be in touch with reality for a change.

Instead of glitzy night club scenes with boring conversations, Downtown Girls actually shows the lives and friendships of Nikki, a boutique owner, Gurj, an Atlantic Records digital marketer, Klo, a bride-to-be, Victoria, an aspiring lawyer, and last but not least, Shallon, a Glamour.com blogger.

In a world of plastic reality show Barbie dolls (i.e: Heidi Montag), seeing young women working, living on their own, and trying to figure out their 20-something lives was refreshing. With each girl offering her unique individual style and perspective, it was impressive seeing MTV tackle real people, doing real everyday things for once.

Although Downtown Girls chronicles a group of friends, Shallon Lester steals the show with her outspoken and funny personality. With a larger-than-life persona that makes Shallon seem like everyone’s best friend, her energy is contagious. Who wouldn’t want to be her friend?

With one co-written book under her belt, Hot Mess, and a collection of memoirs chronicling her dating life coming out in 2011 called Exes and Ohs, expect to hear more from Shallon. So, consider this an inside look beyond the MTV cameras… Read More »

We all know Reality TV is less than quality. And yeah, Rock of Love (especially that bus!) and For The Love Of Ray J are ruining the world, but it’s hard not to love those celebrity-based reality TV shows. Much like coffee, cardigans and chocolate chip muffins, I’m addicted. Whether it’s seeing how those people live or getting to know them in a different way, there’s just something about those shows that keeps me, and America, coming back for more.

Admit it: no matter how embarrassing it is, you can’t get enough of Tori and Dean or Giuliana and Bill. It’s fun to see how celebrities live, and what they’re like when they’re not all decked up on a Red Carpet repeating lines fed to them by their overbearing publicists.

Remember how surprised you were to see how almost normal the Osbournes were?
Or at how messed up Britney and K-Fed were? (…maybe  that one wasn’t so surprising.)

Wouldn’t you like to get inside Oprah’s life? Or Ryan Seacrest’s? Or, OMG, Paula Abdul’s? Talk about TV gold! I’m giddy just thinking about it. (I may even have to upgrade to a bigger DVR if that last one is an option. Mine is already full with all of the Real Housewives….) But enough about my life long dreams; let’s see which reality shows the CollegeCandy writers would like to see. Read More »

It looks like those New Jersey Italians aren’t the only ones with prosciutto beef about MTV’s latest trainwreck, Jersey Shore. Another MTV “star” has his boxers in a bunch about the newest reality series to sweep America off its feet. Yes, everyone’s favorite ass-hat, Spencer Pratt, isn’t so happy with all the attention those overly tanned guidos have been getting.

“Spencer can feel the press moving away from him and on to the cast members of ‘Jersey Shore.’ He is desperate to keep his 15 minutes going. It’s all he has and blames MTV for paying more attention to the new show than to his old show,” laughs a TV executive.

And he should be mad. A tanner, stronger, 6-packier loser has taken his place as MTV’s biggest douche: the one and only Situation. Or has he? I mean, it’s really hard to tell which moron is a bigger dbag, but let’s try. Read More »

I know more about these women than I do about our forefathers.

Every Friday I head home from work, tear off my bra, put on my biggest pair of sweatpants, order in Pad Se Ew and settle in for a night of TV. Lame? Maybe. But get back to me after you’re working 60-hour weeks in the real world. Friday nights on the couch are sacred.

Last week, as I fired up the DVR to catch up on all the shows I’d missed from the week, I had a rather enlightening moment. Sorta like an Oprah “aha!” moment, only way more embarrassing. My entire DVR was taken up by reality shows. Top Chef, Project Runway, The Real Housewives, Ace of Cakes… Hell, I even had a little Real World/Road Rules Duel on there.

I looked around to make sure none of my neighbors could see my TV through the windows. I mean, I know I like me some crappy TV, but this was just mortifying. My entire life revolves around watching train wrecks on camera! But maybe it’s not that sad? I mean, everyone loves themselves a little trash now and then, right? Those shows are on for a reason. And some of them are actually really good! Maybe not anything on E!, but we can all learn a thing or two from The Biggest Loser, right?

Right?!?

To make myself feel better about my addiction (and my sad, lame life) I asked the CollegeCandy writers to share their reality TV faves this week. You know you got one, too. Share it in the comments! Read More »

While flipping through the channels last night during primetime, I discovered the real reason why our favorite shows go off the air during the summer: to make way for the sh*tshow that is summer television, which leaves us begging for The Office and House come September.

It’s the perfect advertising strategy: cut off the supply of good shows, and the viewers will demand that the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy be moved up several weeks. But it’s absolute torture for the rest of us.

That is not to say all summer TV is bad. True Blood and Mad Men are perhaps two of the greatest shows on television, period, despite the fact that they premiere during the summer. But take a look the other night’s TV listings, and you’ll want to cringe along with me: America’s Got Talent, Big Brother, More To Love? Nothing even halfway decent to watch! Read More »

Reality shows: you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. Personally, I never liked “reality” television, and this summer’s lineup of shows gives me even more of a reason to stay away. The networks really seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel with some of this stuff. Here’s just a handful of the trainwreck reality shows that will be gracing our TVs this season:

The Great American Road Trip
NBC, Mondays at 8/7c
What happens when you pit seven families representing different regional stereotypes against each other in a race for $100,000? The Great American Road Trip. Only there’s nothing great about it. In fact, it’s rather hard to watch. In the first episode, the families competed in an “end of the road” challenge in which they had to roll a Zorb containing one of their family members through an obstacle course. I felt so bad for the poor kids who were stuck rolling around in the giant Zorbs…although I couldn’t stop laughing through the whole thing! Does that make me a bad person? Read More »