on MTV reality shows and chase crawford

photo taken BEFORE Spencer's creepy flesh-colored beard was born

I don’t blog about TV all that often, likely because I’m really not that much of a TV junkie in the first place.  I mean, I make it a point to watch The Daily Show just about every night (Jon Stewart, oh how I love you), I watch baseball in the summer, and I’ll get roped into the pre-primetime block of Friends/Scrubs re-runs when I get home from work sometimes.  The rest of the TV shows I like I typically catch on DVD, so I’m not much of an appointment-viewer.   Here’s my relatively short list of favorite shows (both on and off the air):

• The Daily Show
• Scrubs
• Gossip Girl
• Sex and the City
• Friends
• Weeds
• The Hills
• Boy Meets World
• The OC
• ANYthing on the Food Network (particularly Iron Chef America, Diners Drive-Ins and Dives, Ace of Cakes, and anything Bobby Flay does)

As you can see from the list above, I don’t catch a lot of reality TV (unless you put The Hills in that category, but come on).  I’ve followed one whole season of American Idol from start to finish (and still think Paris or Chris should’ve won), I’ve seen maybe two seasons of The Bachelorette (and that was more of a social thing with my girlfriends/roommates than it was truly caring about the show), and the last time I watched The Real World I was a freshman in college (read: 7+ years ago).

Again, with the exception of The Hills, I’m not much of an MTV junkie either.  This week changed everything.

Thanks to the bestie, I was introduced to episode three (or four?) of Taking the Stage, a show about a group of high school kids at the Cincinnatti School of Performing Arts (Nick Lachey’s alma mater).  The stories and relationships between these ridiculoulsy talented kids are adorably high school and innocent and just plain FUN.

how adorable are they!?

Second new guilty pleasure?

College Life.  I was initially drawn to this because it takes place at UW-Madison.  Mad-town was my first choice for college; I was accepted, had my dorm assignment and then backed out at the last minute and decided to go elsewhere instead.  I saw the Gopher-Badger games every year for four years, have bar-hopped and down State Street, and even remember my very first time there as a senior in high school, thinking about making that my next step.  Watching all the familiar buildings and bars was a trip.

And then there’s the kid from St. Paul who’s about to get kicked out in like, the first week for either/both getting busted for booze in the dorms and/or failing a math class.  Way to represent, homeslice.

hilarious trouble-magnet Kevin, from St. Paul

Now, I loved college (best four years and three schools of my life, right?!), but I’d rather be where I am right now than go back.  Even still, it’s fun to watch through the eyes (cameras) of these kids and relive my dorm days at Mankato and Marquette.

So… it looks like I have new TV dates on Mondays and Thursdays…

As long as I’m shamelessly loving bad TV, celebs, and pop culture… I’ll take this opportunity to admit that I think  Chase Crawford is  ridiculously hot.   Seriously, wow.

oh, nathanial archibald...

Tagged as: Chase Crawford, college life, MTV, The Hills