GUILTY PLEASURE

My guilty pleasure: watching shows which I know are abhorrent, but still enjoying them them despite the fact that I know they're bad (e.g.: Sherry Shepherd on The View, Dennis Quaid movies). Although I have never watched any of the so-called "reality shows", I regularly watch The Soup where the host Joel McHale mocks other television shows by showing clips along with making derisive comments. I fondly remember when the host was Greg Kinnear, but he's gone on to feature films.

I believe I have found the only show which can supplant The Soup in my favor and with splendid irony, it was featured on The Soup.

On the show, a clip from Killer Karaoke caused me to laugh so much that when Les heard me while he was in the kitchen, he came to the family room to investigate. I backed up the recording and Les joined with me in my glee! I asked, "Can we get that show on our cable?" Les checked and found that it's carried on the TruTV network which is on our service.

The contestants on Killer Karaoke are put through various forms of "torture" while they are singing karaoke songs. The host Steve-O warns the contestants, "No matter what happens, do not stop singing." There are 10 different kinds of humiliation inflicted on the contestants. My favorite is called "Shock Therapy" (see clip) and the contestants are to serve a meal to the host while they are hooked up with five shock devices for the neck, arms, and legs. The contestant is shocked as he/she tries to serve the food.



So, it doesn't sound hilarious to you? Of course, I was embarrassed that I enjoyed the show! The host Steve-O was quoted as saying that the show is "A blatant jab at so-called reality singing shows."

Les recorded three episodes but predicted, "We'll probably get tired of it after the first one." We're still laughing and looking forward to the fourth episode. When I told a friend about it, she said, "The critic in The New York Times said it was the greatest." Disbelieving, I read Neil Genzlinger's opinion and felt somewhat vindicated, but nonetheless, still embarrassed. (See the Times article HERE.)