What’s your favorite dumb TV show? More telewitterings.

imageOn February 27th I posted a general question to a bunch of social networks: What is the dumbest show you would happily rewatch in its entirety?

This came about as Kelly and I were contemplating rewatches of both Farscape and the live action The Tick. I said, as I have said before, that my candidate for ‘dumbest’ rewatchable would be Alias. My chief memory of watching Alias was frequently turning off the TV and having a discussion that boiled down to:

One of us: That was fun.
The Other: Yep.
1: Did any of that make sense to you?
2: Nope.

Anyway, the question spawned a lot of response, especially on Facebook. Many of the responses surprised me, and were a good reminder that dumb is one of those words that means a lot of different things to different people.

Some people mentioned shows I don’t think of as dumb: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Farscape (where you land on Farscape, I think, depends on your stance on Muppets) and Red Dwarf.

Others went for childhood nostalgia trips: Gilligan’s Island, Rocket Robin Hood, Lost in Space, The Monkees, Wild Wild West.

Another category was things I haven’t seen: Gilmore Girls, Married with Children, Full House.

The stuff I did think was dumb but likable included Stargate Atlantis, Xena, X-Files, Smallville. All of these are shows I began watching but didn’t finish out.

The Facebook discussion is here.

We have a tendency to be embarrassed by some portion of our TV viewing. I’ve heard people apologize for liking reality TV, or super-violent stuff, or slapstick comedy. The friend from university who mentioned Married with Children mentioned, regretfully, that it’s pretty sexist.

I think we tend to offer disclaimers when we know a show a) isn’t Shakespeare and b) isn’t something the person we’re talking to would much care for.

How do you define dumb TV?

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About Alyx Dellamonica

After twenty-two years in Vancouver, B.C., I've recently moved to Toronto Ontario, where I make my living writing science fiction and fantasy; I also review books and teach writing online at UCLA. I'm a legally married lesbian, a coffee snob, and I wake up at an appallingly early hour.

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