A reason why Sidney and I have a successful marriage is because, for the most part, our differences compliment each other. However, there is one area where our differences clash. What point of contention am I speaking of?…

TV genre preferences.

I enjoy watching sports and documentaries while Sid prefers a television diet that is based heavily on reality TV. While she has converted me to the dark side with some reality shows, there are other programs that I simply have a very hard time tolerating. I am good with several of the reality options on the major networks but once she starts going up the TV dial we run into some stations that have shows I don’t necessarily embrace.

In tonight’s blog post, I would quickly like to list the reality TV programs that Sidney really enjoys but I don’t. For the sake of this post, I am not calling any of these shows “stupid” or “dumb.” Rather, I will just label them ridiculous. So, in order of escalating ridiculousness, here is my list of the five “reality” TV shows I don’t really care for.

5. Keeping Up with the Kardashians – This is the series that blazed the way for the onslaught of shows dealing with people who are on TV solely because they are rich. When we first started dating, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” is the show I remember Sidney watching the most. Although I find the sisters attractive, it doesn’t excuse the fact that the show is about absolutely nothing. Because the show manages to conjure up some pleasant memories and because every member of the cast has been crafty enough to maximize the exposure he/she has received, I will put it as the #5 spot on the countdown. But don’t get me wrong, it is still bad!

 4. Don’t Be Tardy – I hated to put this show on the list because it stars Kroy Biermann, a former University of Montana football player who was a student-athlete for the Griz during my days there. But I just can’t bring myself to get any enjoyment out of the show. It doesn’t seem real to me and I have yet to identify any type of plot, adversity, or redeeming value within it. Kim, a former cast member on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” co-stars with Kroy and you will learn shortly what I think about “The Real Housewives.” Sid has watched it for a long time but it hasn’t grown on me one bit.

 3. RelationShep – The low key version of “The Bachelor,” I get a little irritated watching this show. Is Shep so inept at finding someone on his own that he needs an entire show and numerous enablers to find him “the one”? It drives me nuts. The “producer” of the show has a prominent role in each episode and the conversations she has with Shep drive me crazy. The way that Shep acts like the world owes it to him to find his future wife rubs me the wrong way. The way he also talks about the hardships of finding his girl is not endearing either. Dude, don’t complain, you get to live a fantasy.

 2. Vanderpump Rules – Drama, drama, drama. Who knew working at a bar could be so taxing? This is another show that is just so far from reality that I can’t take it seriously. The entitlement and disregard for others shown by members of the cast makes me sick to my stomach. If I am going to watch a show about the bar industry, please give me “Bar Rescue.”

1. The Real Housewives of _____________ – I started drafting this blog post by starting down here with “The Real Housewives of _____________” (the blank space is intentional because I am lumping all the different cities into one) because this franchise catches my ire more than any other on television. I didn’t give it the Don’t Blink Emmy for Worst Reality TV Show back in September for nothing. Not even “Vanderpump Rules” can hold a candle to the greed, ego, and ridiculousness that oozes out of this series. To me, it seems like the same scene is acted out every episode…a group goes out to a restaurant for drinks and it ends with yelling, broken glassware, profanity, and tears. There is no trace of “reality” found within any of these spinoffs. The complaining, the fighting, and the disrespect drives me so crazy that I can’t bear to watch. Believe it or not, even though I give all the #2-#5 shows a tough time, I can still sit down and watch them with Sid. The same can’t be said for “The Real Housewives of _____________”.

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Thankfully we have two televisions at our house. But, to be truthful, Sid and I manage just fine. She watches her “trash” (her term, not mine) primarily when I am doing something else. Likewise, I get my sports fix when she is asleep. We watch plenty of TV together and a vast majority of the time it is something we both enjoy. That reality TV though…

Don’t Blink.