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TV Shows So Bad They’re Good

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Carleton chapter.

For us university girls, it feels so good to settle down at the end of the week with a bowl of popcorn and catch up on your favourite shows. Now we know that there are some fabulous programs out there but everybody knows that when you’re stressed out and looking for some mindless entertainment, it’s the really bad ones you end up watching. That’s why Her Campus Carleton has provided you with a round-up of some of the cheesiest, corniest shows around (that you just can’t get enough of).

1. My Strange Addiction

My Strange Addiction showcases some of the grossest, most bizarre displays of insanity on television – and viewers are only too happy to watch the train wreck unfold. In one awkward episode, a man was literally in a relationship with his car, in that they had an ‘intimate and emotional relationship’ (his words, not mine). As if that wasn’t crazy enough, the show features a grown woman obsessed with being a baby, another who eats plastic continuously, and the list goes on. It’s hard to understand why the show is so addicting, because some of the stories are downright sad. Still, the idea of a 25-year-old woman dressed as a baby or a man making out with his car on national television is too hilarious to pass up. 

2. Toddlers and Tiaras
 

The gem of television that is Toddlers and Tiaras parades outrageous looking children vying for top pageant prizes, which usually consist of a crown and a toy. The show teaches viewers that tanning two-year-old children and spending thousands of dollars on dressing them in ridiculously ugly outfits is totally rational. But the crowning glory of this show is the pageant moms. Usually, because they have grown old and overweight, these women live vicariously through their children by forcing them into pageants when they’d probably be happier getting the chickenpox. Anyways, Toddlers and Tiaras is great to make fun of, and in the end, you might learn great tips about applying false eyelashes on a three-year-old.

3. Glee
 
Glee is one of the most well-loved shows on television, but let’s just face it, it’s pretty dumb. To put it more eloquently, Glee is one of those shows where the acting is bad, the plot is usually shaky at best and the characters are annoying, but you still love it. From what I know about high school, kids usually don’t go around singing their problems away and gym teachers don’t physically abuse random students. Despite all this, maybe people keep watching because we all secretly wish our high school experiences had been like that – singing and dancing included.

4. Jersey Shore
 
This one is a classic and it goes without saying that it should be included on any ‘so bad it’s good’ TV list. When a horde of twenty-something losers spend their nights clubbing and their days tanning, a new level on the pathetic scale has been reached. What sets these characters apart from the rest though, is their intelligence and wit. Kidding. Snooki, Pauly D and the other guidos and guidettes mostly discuss GTL (gym, tanning and laundry), and are prone to exclaiming “yeaaah buddy!” at any given moment. The guys are also known to use a grenade horn in order to ward off particularly unappealing prospects for courtship. All I can say is, thank god this world still has people like Oprah and Bill Gates. 

5. The Bachelor
 

The Bachelor feels like a big joke. It’s one of those shows that are so ridiculous you expect someone to pop up and say “Pranked! I can’t believe you thought this was real!”. Sadly, it is very real and features a host of girls competing to win the heart of the cutie that was creepy and enough of a failure in the dating department to volunteer for the show. This season’s prospect is Ben, and it has been circulating around the Internet that he totally looks like Francine, from Arthur. It’s hilarious to watch the ladies fight over the particularly un-sexy Ben and it’s always fun to see the crying when one hopeful goes home.

 

Did your favourite guilty pleasure shows not make the cut? Leave a comment below and let us know!
Jasmine Williams is a fourth-year Journalism major, pursuing a minor in Film Studies at Carleton University. An internship at a recently launched online magazine prepared her for her new, exciting role as Campus Correspondent for Carleton University. She is never too far away from her iPhone and in her spare time, you can find her scrolling through various tumblr blogs while listening to Kings of Leon. After university, she hopes to pursue a career in online journalism.