Finding the Reality in Reality TV

I hate reality TV shows. In fact, I dislike most TV other than HGTV, which tantalizes me with all of the projects I could do to my own house if I had an infinite amount of time and money and owned power tools.

I do make one exception to the no reality show ban, because I am addicted to "Dancing With the Stars." The show is extremely popular so I am clearly not the only person addicted. More than the actual performances, I love when they show the hapless celebrities sweating it out, cursing and falling over in their high heels and short skirts in the studio as they learn their new routines in only 4 days. As we were doing our Samba intro over and over and over again this morning, running into each other and trying desperately to do that "hip shake thing" without looking like morons (oh yeah, it's a little harder on skates) -- I was comforted knowing that the celebrities on TV struggled with the same issues.

I may also be one of the few fans who uses the show to garner clever and inexpensive costume ideas for next season. If all goes as planned I'll be buying fake eyelashes and wearing two dayglo orange postage stamps on a string with a spray-on tan for our Samba and call it good. Bring on the body glue!