TV Talk: On the Sly

[yourlibrarian]

Do you regularly watch any shows you wouldn't like to admit to other people? If so, no need to specify what the show(s) is, but what makes you reluctant to have that known? And if you don't, have you encountered this with anyone else?

Comments

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I regularly watch shows that other people are ashamed of watching. I know this because they tell me, usually because they are amazed that I am not ashamed. My partner is a huge animation fan. Therefore we watch a lot of cartoons, as adults. We enjoy them.

Of course, some modern cartoons are made for adults -- Blood of Zeus is downright gory. Among our favorite children's shows is Miraculous Ladybug. Alongside the magical transformation stuff, I like that the villain of the day is always a normal person transformed into an antagonist, and how the series emphasizes trust and relationships. Plus the Parisian local color; it's not just the Eiffel Tower, they include things like the ornate metalwork around the subway entrances.

Fandom is about loving what you love, whatever it is. There's no shame in that.

Re: Well ...

[yourlibrarian]

Hear, hear!

[feurioo]

I'm generally not afraid to share some of my less-than-stellar TV choices. However, I wouldn't necessarily admit to anyone that I watched one season of Naked Attraction (it's a dating show where the contestants appear naked). Mostly because a lot of people IRL tend to think of me as a prude/generally conservative, and I have no intention of robbing them of this notion.

I also usually keep the fact quiet that I have obsessively watched one soap opera in the past, mainly because a lot of people associate daily soaps with bad writing. However, I genuinely thought that this soap opera was mainly well-written, even clever, and a little subversive. (But I don't want to explain that, at length, to a soap non-watcher!)

On the internet, I don't have any problems sharing this, but I guess IRL, I tend to be more private.

[yourlibrarian]

Makes sense. I tend to talk about TV mostly here or with friends. But even with friends they can be dismissive about certain recommendations. I just returned from a trip where two friends got hooked on Star Wars Rebels and we binge watched 2 seasons of it. I suspect the fact that they were animated is why they never tried them. But just a few episodes in and they were hooked!

[krakendelsur]

As a kid I was, because I was worried some of the things I liked weren't "punk rock" enough or they were "too mainstream".

Nowadays I really dgaf tho
XD

[china_shop]

I remember being hesitant to talk about Due South in public because I'd written so much smutty fanfic for it, and I didn't want people to make a connection somehow. But I don't think there's a show I've watched, even an objectively bad one, that I wouldn't admit to. (No doubt as soon as I post this, I'll think of one. ;-p)

[sireesanwar]

General Hospital. I used to watch all the ABC soaps but All My Children and One Life to Live got cancelled.

But I still watch GH. I've been watching for years. Since the 90s.

Is it the best story telling? No. But I really enjoy it at times. And honestly I feel like that is better than watching reality love life shows. *shrugs*

[yourlibrarian]

In my case when I was a kid I wasn't allowed to watch TV, so every reference anyone had flew over my head 😉

[yourlibrarian]

I remember only hearing about Due South via fandom, though given it had several seasons surely it was a popular enough show?

[china_shop]

I got into it long after it had finished airing. I mean, most people who've heard of it wouldn't make the connect to fandom unless they themselves were in fandom, but it was so inextricably linked in my mind then. And if they'd found out my personal email and googled, there was a good chance something would have come up.

[yourlibrarian]

I have only ever watched competition shows, mostly Dancing with the Stars. For some seasons they seemed to be trying to ramp up personality factors but for the most part they focus on the training and dances. But I could not get into other shows because they just give me embarrassment squick. I keep wondering who would ever be a cast member. At least with scripted shows it's clear someone's playing a character.

[yourlibrarian]

Yeah, the transition from small fandom pond to massive exposure happened pretty quickly.

[china_shop]

These days I just don't care, but then I have the luxury of not being in a workplace.

[olivermoss]

There is no show I wouldn't admit to, but I typically don't get into my TV tastes. It's always shows no one has heard of and take more than one sentence to really explain. People always seem to think I am being like Deliberately Quirky or something.

[author_by_night]

I didn't care TOO much, but now I'm very aware of how innocent my media tastes were compared to a lot of kids. Including TV. Oh well.

[impala_chick]

I'm in that spot right now about Doctor Odyssey, because the first thing people seem to ask is - "is that the poly show?". And I don't want to get the questions or the judgement unless I know the person well.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, there's that aspect too! Especially now when TV old and new, domestic and international are so at hand, it's easy to have an entire viewing list hardly anyone has heard of.

[yourlibrarian]

That's too bad that it's the only thing people seem to know about it. The preposterous plots apparently don't count for much!

[sireesanwar]

I agree. I actually used to watch DWTS religiously but not so much anymore. I don't know I think it became too much and they kept changing things.

Yeah, I watch baking competitions like Spring Baking Championship or Summer/Fall/Winter. And Great British Baking Show. A few other things and some home shows but I can't watch the ones that are about relationships or cast like 90 Day Fiancee. I just can't do it.

[tellshannon815]

I have this issue - Dark and From are two of my absolute favourites, but also can be complicated to explain to anyone with no knowledge of them (which is a lot of people I know). Meanwhile, I glaze over at reality TV.

[olivermoss]

Yeah, it's like people ask and then whether I give a long or short descrip people act like I am being lolrandomXD or something.

[krakendelsur]

So much this (except for that I did care 😣).
My friends were introducing me to films like A Clockwork Orange and Rocky Horror Picture Show... I didn't want to them to know that I was still obsessed with Ever After and Bambi.

[krakendelsur]

I remember thinking GH was a rather silly show (for reference, the first episode I ever watched involved the "vampire" storyline with Michael Easton) but I got sucked in very quickly and became a huge fan of it. I like the wide variety of characters, storylines, etc. I also appreciate that soap operas will swap out an actor with a new one to play the same character rather than just kill the storyline/show. I wish more TV shows operated this way tbh.

[krakendelsur]

I'm sorry :(

[yourlibrarian]

You and me both. I suppose it's possible it may be a contractual thing, which no doubt is included in soap opera ones given how often they've done it. But perhaps it's just that writers like the dramatic possibilities of killing characters off.

[sireesanwar]

Well in GH's defense the vampire storyline was actually the show Port Charles... but GH had the storyline that someone was going to freeze the world. But Days had demon possession. It is mostly par for the course.

Also, I love Michael Easton. LOL

LOL. I never did get to watch Port Charles because it was on when I moved to a rural area where we didn't get much TV. SUCKED.

I appreciate that about Soaps too.

[krakendelsur]

I think I started tuning in around the time where the storyline had become "the vampire was really a serial killer who only thought he was a vampire" (so around 2013ish?), and also he has a twin. Aaaand that was when I started to like Michael Easton, as he had also been playing the detective investigating the whole case lol

[tinny]

I kind of feel like I have to keep nothing at all secret from my friends here, or from people on dw in general, or fangirls in general. And, luckily, my SO.

People IRL... very different story. There are two or three who have similar tastes to mine, but on the whole the "nerdiest" that people get is that they're watching MCU (which I'm not into). So usually there is nothing to talk about, and no motivation to share in the first place.

I've gotten used to my life being split in two in that way.

[tinny]

Ah, well, at least they got the most important takeaway from the show then. <3

I just get derisive "love boat" comments. While I was, indeed, watching it for the throuple! (not that I'd admit that IRL unless specifically asked.)

[yourlibrarian]

I found the OT3 to at least make the usual romantic tropes keeping couples apart a little different. But I have really enjoyed all the characters.

[yourlibrarian]

I suspect a lot of fans have that experience. But it is interesting that the MCU is an exception to that. In itself that's a big change.

[sireesanwar]

Of course! Yeah I remember him from Mutant X. He was the bad guy on that show but I loved him. Followed him to One Life to Live and then when he went to General Hospital. I'm sad he left.

[impala_chick]

lol, I should definitely bring up the crazy shark attack next time someone questions me :P

[impala_chick]

The tone when someone says the "love boat" show is very telling, indeed.

haha, same. I totally started watching/still watch because of the throuple :)

[impala_chick]

Yeah it is interesting how the MCU has become "cool" or at least socially acceptable to talk about. I think that's similar to Star Wars fandom these days.