Image Source: Screencrave.com
Though many have been fooled by his disproportionately large chin, impressive hair follicles and special brand of quaint “humor”, we can today strike the entire country of India off the list of those impressed by Jay Leno. Continue reading
Image Source: Pigeonsandplanes.com
When you’ve got an entire nation at your back, a hit daily comedy show, a pint of your namesake Ben and Jerry’s flavor lying half-eaten in the freezer and the South Carolina primaries looming up in front of you, life can seem a little hectic. Continue reading
If you didn’t like sports, you wouldn’t sign up for a softball team. If you became a vegetarian, you wouldn’t go out to eat at a steakhouse. Then why is it when you hate a TV show, you don’t always stop watching?
Image: inklingnews.com
Chances are you might just be a hate-watcher, a select category of TV viewer that watches TV shows with the sole purpose of hating everything about it. These are the people that complain about how much they can’t stand Jersey Shore, yet they tune in every week.
This phenomenon should not be confused with a guilty pleasure, which is a TV show you feel guilty about watching, but actually secretly love. Instead, hate-watching is more like an act of masochism—you know you hate the show, but that’s also part of the appeal.
Why Do We Hate-Watch?
That’s not to say there isn’t a place for hate-watching during your TV time. We all watch TV to illicit some type of emotional response—sitcoms make us laugh and forget about our worries, while dramas provide us with a cathartic experience to let out our strong emotions.
Therefore, wouldn’t it be safe to say that the shows we hate-watch give us the opportunity to explore our angry emotions in a healthy way? After all, it’s better to be mad at some people on your TV screen, than the people in your daily life.
The Internet has allowed the hate-watching phenomenon grow in numbers over the past few years. Hate-watchers now have the opportunity to meet other hate-watchers online and talk about how much they hate a show in real time while they watch it together. Thanks to the Internet, there are a number of different sub-categories of hate-watchers, including but not limited to:
The Fanboy Hate-Watcher
Image: maxupdates.tv
This breed of hate-watcher actually liked the show they are watching—back when it was good. The fanboy hate-watcher hates American Idol without Paula and Simon, Family Guy without Cleveland and The Simpsons after Season 8—yet all three shows are on his DVR.
The Political Hate-Watcher
Image: newsrealblog.com
The political hate-watcher views TV shows that clash with her political views. She’s the liberal that tunes into Fox News or the conservative that watches The Daily Show. Maybe she’s just trying to learn about the enemy, or maybe she just has a secret crush on Glenn Beck.
The Generational Hate-Watcher
Image: teenmomtalk.com
The generational hate-watcher likes to watch shows that are not intended for his age-group, yet hates that he can’t enjoy them. The hate-watcher knows he’s too old for MTV and he hates every show on the network, but he watches it every day.
The Hipster Hate-Watcher
Image: aceshowbiz.com
This hate-watcher hated watching TV before it was cool. When she hate-watches a TV show, she’s doing it for the sake of irony. The only reason her and her friends get together to watch The Bachelor each week is to make fun of the contestants.
Are you a closet hate-watcher? Do you watch TV shows with the sole purpose of hating them? What TV shows do you love to hate-watch?
Image Source: Appadvice.com
Our national paragons of fake news reporting, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, returned with new seasons on January 4th, and with elections looming large and as omnipresent as those spaceships in Independence Day, I’m excited to see how the shows will respectively handle Indecision 2012, as they like to call it. Continue reading
It seems like anybody who has been on TV can host a talk show these days. Randy Jackson and Queen Latifah are both rumored to have talk shows in the works, while “Real Housewife” Bethenny Frankel recently taped a pilot for a daytime talk show that was not picked up. Despite the sheer number of celebrities trying to break into the talk show circuit, here’s a few more that we think have a better shot.
Paula Deen
Image: Foodnetwork.com
The queen of southern cooking and excessive butter would be right at home with the daytime television crowd. Paula often works in the kitchen alongside her family, friends and guest stars, so converting that friendly, southern hospitality into a talk show format would be as easy as pecan pie.
Kathy Griffin
Image: Encore Magazine
This comedienne, reality-show diva and self-proclaimed D-list star already gossips so much about celebrities in her stand-up act that giving her the chance to actually interview them would be must-see TV. She’d ask all the uncomfortable, raunchy questions that other interviewers never touch.
Tyler Perry
Image: eurweb.com
Perry is a writer, director, actor and producer with several hit plays, movies and TV shows under his belt. Frankly, a talk show is about the only thing he hasn’t done yet. Tyler Perry’s devotion to the African American community would give him a built-in audience and if he showed up to guest-host as Madea every now and then, we wouldn’t complain.
Neil Patrick Harris
Image: tumblr.com
As much as we love “How I Met Your Mother,” no sitcom is forever and NPH may soon find himself needing a new gig. He did an amazing job hosting the Tony Awards and is always a fascinating guest on talk shows. This natural showman is perfect for a morning talk show—after all, who wouldn’t want to wake up with Neil Patrick Harris?
Ricky Gervais
Image: peterbaileyny.com
Although “The Ricky Gervais” show is hilarious, we want to see Ricky interview more than just simpletons like Karl Pilkington. Ricky’s not afraid to speak his mind or call someone out on being an idiot, which would make him a perfect host for a roundtable political talk show like Bill Mahr or John Stewart.
Justin Timberlake
Image: nydailynews.com
He was a Mousketeer, a boy band member and an accomplished actor. He’s one of the greatest reoccurring guests on “Saturday Night Live” and that’s because he’s got high energy and natural talent. Morning, noon, night—it doesn’t matter when you air his talk show, people would watch.
Margaret Cho
Image: wordpress.com
Stand-up comedian Margaret Cho would bring some much needed diversity to the talk show circuit. We’d love to see her hosting tabloid talk show, interviewing cheating husbands and out-of-control teens. After all, she’s friends with drag queens, struggled with weight issues and recovered from substance abuse. She’s done it all and lived to tell the tale.
