confessions of a z-list wannabe

I have been TV-free for the past year and a half, save for my time in the States when I had the flat screen on, even if I had my back on it, just so I can say that I've maximized my stay in the two hundred dollar suite. Heck, it was summer and I had the fireplace all lit up. There are nights when I like to pretend that I'm roasting marshmallows while singing Kumbaya just to annoy Manolito. God, I'm bad.

Anyway, I only flipped between two stations when I was there - CNN for the news and MTV for the nostalgia. I am a 90s kid so I was there when MTV was cool. I used to spend my days watching one music video after another. And for some weird reason, I never got tired of seeing Mariah before she had D cups, Ricky Martin when he was still banging, and the Backstreet Boys when they were still boys. I was expecting to see lots of current music videos on MTV USA so I was surprised to learn that their program line up is now 90% reality shows and 10% music videos. Perhaps, this is a strategic move for the network considering that they are, somewhat, a beacon of pop culture. Reality shows broke ground in the dawn of this decade, and eight years after it's definitely not showing any signs of waning. If not, it actually seems that this trend will continue to boom for the couple of years to come.

Reality TV shows sell because it's supposed to present life and all its aspects in its rawest form. The audience get to see how people interact with one another, or how they handle a given circumstance minus the scripted drama. There is a certain authenticity, albeit not completely, in these genre that the regular scripted programs can never ever achieve.

I have to say though that I am not the biggest fan of reality shows. In fact, I am skeptical as to how real, reality shows are. Allegations of some programs to be fake and somewhat controlled abound. Nevertheless, I can't take away the fact that this genre has proven to be an effective vehicle that shows how a normal person's life is ten times more interesting than anything else on TV.

Then again, Sam Milby is anything but normal.

So until my life story gets syndicated by a network, I'm sticking with Will & Grace.