In the "When the Hairs Stand Up on the Back of Your Neck" thread, Inca chided me for my shame at watching/enjoying the O.C. While I definitely liked the show, I think I came by the shame honestly as I have been routinely mocked by friends for my O.C.-love.

So, what TV shows have you watched that you're embarrassed to admit to enjoying? Also, what shows have you watched that you've been mocked for though you think such mockery is unjustified?

Besides the O.C., I've received undeserved mockery for enjoying such little-screen classics as Veronica Mars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel.

I've been justly ashamed of watching American Idol (though I only watch occasionally, and usually pay little attention), Friends (after the first couple seasons), 90210, Arliss, and Project Runway (I blame the girlfriend for this one, though).


[Note: I imagine this thread has probably been done before, but I had too much to get off my chest to just let it go.]

I love Buffy and Angel. Buffy's a postfeminist icon, ffs. I even have a buffy mousepad. (It was a gift, but I was pleased to receive it.)

I'm distinctly lowbrow in my taste in tv, and I really don't care.

As I mention on another thread, I watch Neighbours regularly. I also watch a whole host of American shows such as Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty.

90210 is awesome. As are the drinking games associated with it (e.g. "drink when they say something stupid", "chug whenever they have a life crisis with which you can't possibly identify").

I think I've mentioned this before on here, but 90210 is basically Star Trek in High School. Like Star Trek, every week they take on a "New Issue" (Brandon and Kelly visit the planet of teen alcoholism!). And the Peach Pit is basically Ten Forward. And from a professional perspective, I found the entire second and third seasons - with their college search and financial aid story arcs - absolutely fascinating.

I have regular fights with my 11-year-old (who is OC-addicted) about which is the better show. He finds OC "realistic", but 90210 "cheezy", which is obviously irrational and entirely fuelled by his pre-adolescent lust for Mischa Barton.

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I'm distinctly lowbrow in my taste in tv, and I really don't care.

I don't think Buffy and Angel are particularly lowbrow (not that there's anything wrong with lowbrow). They are definitely genre fare, but, much like Battlestar Galactica, I think they have too much going on in them to be considered lowbrow.

When I think of lowbrow TV, I tend to think of things like American Idol, Deal or No Deal, or any of those big/dumb-guy-hot-wife comedies like According to Jim

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I have regular fights with my 11-year-old (who is OC-addicted) about which is the better show. He finds OC "realistic", but 90210 "cheezy", which is obviously irrational and entirely fuelled by his pre-adolescent lust for Mischa Barton.

I don't think it's irrational for an 11-year-old to find 90210 cheesy (though I can't fathom the Barton love). 90210 is definitely a bit dated now, and the issue-of-the-week (great Star Trek analogy, by the way) was usually presented in a very standards-and-practices mandated, overtly moral way (if they drink, bad things happen to them).

As I mentioned above, I watched the show regularly (they were my age! they were just like my friends <might have been were they very rich>!), but felt that it often had a movie-of-the-week vibe and a terrible sense-of-humor (whereas when the OC was funny, it was very funny).

That said, 90210 was kind of awesome, especially if watched ironically. I think what set the OC over-the-top for me was it's built in sense of self-irony. That pose can get annoying/seem a bit precious at times, but I thought season 1 of the OC nailed it.

Oh, I think they're fairly low brow, when compared with, say, question time. Not bottom feeder kind of low brow, but not exactly elevated watching.

Buffy and Angel were well scripted, very entertaining, with occasional moments of insight and humour that made them well worth the two hours a week I religiously devoted to them.

Thing is, I think TV is by definition supposed to be, you know, entertaining. If I want to be educated, I read a book. If I want to experience slack jawed drooliness, I watch tv.

That's overstating it, I think, and offers too many hostages to Murdoch. There's nothing intrinsically "lowbrow" about TV drama or comedy, and there's no necessary conflict between entertainment and depth. The TV adaptation of Kant's Prolegomena to a Metaphysics of Morals has perhaps yet to be made, but we're still waiting for the opera and ballet versions as well, and nobody goes around calling them "lowbrow".

In fact, I think you've got the wrong axis here. The key distinction isn't between highbrow and lowbrow, it's between popular culture that respects its audience and popular culture that insults it. There's plenty of scope for the former on telly.

I must admit, I take the medium far more seriously than you say you do.

OK, I might be exaggerating slightly for effect...

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The TV adaptation of Kant's Prolegomena to a Metaphysics of Morals has perhaps yet to be made,

See, there's where you're wrong. I can think of at least a half-dozen episodes of 90210 where the gang try to make the transition from common rational to philosophic moral cognition.

I watched Dawson's Creek when I was in school, the first series of Desperate Housewives. When I'm flicking channels and Scrubs or any quiz show whatsoever is on I'll watch that too.

I don't think there is anything as high or low brow. Well, certainly not anything that is objective.

I genuinely thought The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl was a good drama.

I'm not embarrassed by this but know I'll be judged harshly on OTF for it: I will never not love Friends.

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those big/dumb-guy-hot-wife comedies

I really love The King of Queens.

Call Girl though, I had to sit through the whole thing at work and I thought it was a bit rubbish, very by-numbers.