Who watches this crap?

Posted by Maggie May 2nd, 2006 at 11:23am In All Things TV

Every once in a while I’ll look up from my tifaux-induced stupor, fed only by a select cadre of rigorously tested and approved television shows, and wonder what’s going on with the rest of the world. Is it true, I ask myself, that 11 million people watch Las Vegas? Seriously?

Yeah, I thought it was cancelled, too.

Who are these people? Do they watch good shows, too, or do they stick to Two and a Half Men and Las Vegas and Crossing Jordan and Invasion (if any of those shows are even still on the air)? Why would a person, when faced with the choice of, say, House, versus pretty much anything else, choose to go with the “anything else”?

During the last presidential election, I read some AP story about the television preferences of various voting groups. The favorite show among Republicans was Everybody Loves Raymond. The favorite show among Democrats was Will and Grace. The favorite show among undecideds was Everybody Loves Raymond. Which, first of all, seems to predict (or explain???) the results of the election, and, secondly, doesn’t reflect well on the American population as a whole.

Everybody Loves Raymond was a nice, quiet, character-based show, that I can’t in good conscience criticize. But it’s most people’s favorite show on television? And Will and Grace… again, I say, seriously? This show hasn’t been funny since… umm… well, I remember laughing once. Many years ago.

I don’t know anyone who watches these shows. And I’m a woman of the people; I fraternize with all types. So find me a fan of Las Vegas, one of the select 11 million. Maybe they can shed some light on the inexplicable success of all this bland crap — I’ll keep an open mind and won’t even call it bland crap to their face. And then I’ll introduce them to their remote.