Non mind-numbing reality tv. (Yes, it's possible.) What do YOU watch?

Parking Wars-A & E

The official blurb:

“The people you love to hate – the men and women of the Philadelphia Parking Authority – are back, ticketing, booting and towing the cars of problem parkers who express their outrage in furious Philly fashion.”

The official site:
Parking Wars

*Garfield ROCKS!
*Try to figure out where they are … if you’re familiar with Philadelphia you will certainly recognize locations!
*Seriously learn all the crazy parking fines and rules.

Man vs. Wild - The Discovery Channel

The official blurb:

“In each episode of Man vs. Wild Bear strands himself in popular wilderness destinations where tourists often find themselves lost or in danger. As he finds his way back to civilization, he demonstrates local survival techniques, including escaping quicksand in the Moab Desert, navigating dangerous jungle rivers in Costa Rica, crossing ravines in the Alps and surviving sharks off Hawaii.”

The official site:
Man vs. Wild

*He eats crazy things.
*He’s got a nice accent and he’s easy on the eyes.

MTV True Life

Made reminded me of True Life. Love MTV when they schedule a marathon!

Bizarre Foods-The Travel Channel

The official blurb:

“Our energetic food-a-holic infiltrates markets and restaurants taking viewers behind the scenes to savor the local cuisine — even if it means chewing on eggs with legs, gulping down a frog’s still-beating heart or polishing off a lamb’s eyeball.”

The official site:
Bizarre Foods

*Yeah, he definitely eats weird things.
*Learn that, in other places, those weird things aren’t really that weird.

Unwrapped-The Food Network

Each week, Unwrapped uncovers behind-the-scenes details on classic American food, from peanut butter and chocolate syrup to French fries and bubblegum.

Unwrapped

*Learn about how stuff is made. (Duh!)
*Hope that Marc Summers offers a “physical challenge”. (Who remembers Double Dare?)

Good Eats With Alton Brown

Good Eats isn’t some Rachael Ray type cooking show. Alton Brown actually talks about why things are done and the science behind food. I suck at science, so I’d probably never take the time to learn this stuff myself. But Alton makes it fun and interesting and I always feel smarter when I’m done watching his show!

Chopped-The Food Network

The official blurb:

“The series challenges four up-and-coming chefs to turn a selection of everyday ingredients into an extraordinary three-course meal. After each course, a contestant gets “chopped” until the last man or woman left standing claims victory. Each week, a rotating panel of culinary elite judges including Alex Guarnaschelli, Aaron Sanchez, and Geoffrey Zakarian will decide whose dishes shine the brightest and award the winner $10,000."

The official site:
Chopped

• Guess what the “challenge” ingredient might be.
• Learn interesting recipes for thrown together ingredients.

Ace of Cakes-The Food Network

The official blurb:

“Every week at Charm City Cakes in Baltimore, Duff and his team of artists try to meet the demands of creating up to 20 cakes a week, some of which take up to 29 hours to build!”

The official site:
Ace of Cakes

*Try to determine which parts of the cake are edible and which are not.
*Marvel at the odd amount of facial hair that Duff can grow!

Survivorman-The Discovery Channel

The official blurb:

“No food, no shelter, no fresh water, no tools … no camera crew. One man – alone in the wilderness for seven days.”

The official site:
Survivorman

*Wonder how he gets his camera shots with out a camera crew.
*Again with the eating weird things.

Intervention-A & E

The official blurb:

“The Intervention Television series profiles people whose dependencies on drugs and alcohol or other compulsive behavior has brought them to a point of personal crisis and estranged them from their friends and loved ones. Each Intervention episode ends with a surprise intervention that is staged by the family and friends of the alcohol or drug addict, and which is conducted by one of three Intervention specialists: Jeff VanVonderen, Candy Finnigan and Ken Seeley.”

The official site:
Intervention

*Learn about you might have a problem and/or addiction.
*Learn that you don’t have a problem and/or addiction.
*Realize that people really do wake up in the morning and drink immediately. GAG!

Survivor - CBS

Ok, haters, in addition to be the impetus for the reality TV Revolution, Survivor is actually a good show. True, it has girls in bikinis and a lot of backstabbing and whining, but the people on this show actually have to TRY and THINK. It seems simple enough, but it’s not it’s way more interesting and complex than living in a mansion with an over-the-hill rock star.

Amish in the City - UPN

Though it was only on for one season, the premise behind this show was brilliant. 5 Amish young adults on Rumspringa live in a house in Los Angeles with 5 “regular” young adults who just think they are going to be on a typically debaucherous reality show. It was actually really touching (and fascinating!) to watch how the self-centered idiots learned a thing or two from the self-sacrificing Amish and how the Amish struggled to decide whether or not they would return to their families after their Rumspringa. I don’t know why this didn’t last more than one season.