Thursday, April 3, 2008

Real Love with Flavor

At this very moment, I could turn on my television and find at least 20 different reality shows to watch. Every half hour a new set of "find a mate," "clean up you slob," or "I'm suing your sorry behind" show pops on the tube to make viewers feel like we're somehow in better shape than those featured on the program. I won't lie, I love reality t.v. even though it is slowly dissolving my opportunities as an actress. There is nothing better to me than curling up on the couch seeing some stranger get chewed out during a weight loss challenge. If ever there was any good, clean fun in this country...reality t.v. is it!

When I lived in Ithaca, New York, a town rated number one in the country for social activities - (NOT), I gathered with a group of friends on a weekly basis to watch the creme de la creme of reality t.v. "Flavor of Love." For those of you who have been living on Mars and have not heard of this boob tube gem, the show is about "D" list (now B list) celebrity Flavor Flav attempting to find his true love. While this seems as exciting as painting your toenails, you must watch the show to understand the psychological hold it has on those of us who view it religiously.

The crafty buggers at VH1 knew they had struck gold when Flavor Flav first appeared on their flagship celeb-reality show, "Surreal Life." He was the most outrageous "D-lister" ever and when he combined his over the top antics with "Red Sonia" herself, Brigitte Neilsen, magic happened. Everyone who had the good fortune and/or bad sense to watch knew this was the birth of something especially sick. Before you could snap out of the Flavor coma, VH1 gave Flav and Brigitte their opportunity to publicly explore their romantic potential on "Strange Love." Unfortunately for Flav, but fortunately for the rest of us, Brigitte chose to return to her sexy, fine boyfriend and leave the world's ugliest man out in the cold. (Sorry Flav...your skills as a hype man are unparalleled, but your sex appeal can be compared to that of a snapping turtle.)

Of course, VH1 was not going to let Flavor Flav find true love through traditional devices, so they came to the rescue with an assortment of Flav fans who would do anything to secure a place in his heart. For three seasons now, the clock wearing king of love, has been in search of someone willing to care for him (and his seven little Flavs) in a show that could be described as the "Bachelor" on crack. The show receive such high ratings that one of the former Flav seekers got a show. "New York" a two time loser with Flav, got her chance to publicly find true love too. My reality show compadres and I watched with much anticipation, hoping against hope she nor Flav would ever find a mate and we could go on feeling good about our social lives forever.

Now that you're all caught up, feel free to jump in to this season's "Flavor of Love" madness. If you don't connect with Flav's quest, never fear...there are a host of new love reality shows on the horizon. Look forward to "Farmer's Wife" on Fox, which will most likely be my next t.v. love addiction.

2 comments:

Don said...

I tried my best to one evening sit down and watch Flavor of Love - I couldn't do it. I just don't understand what people find entertaining about that show. I love me some The Wire though.

Natalie Cook said...

Don,

If you are looking for quality t.v., you are right to set your sights on "The Wire." It was arguably one of the most finely crafted shows EVER. I dare say that "Flavor of Love" should not even be mentioned in the same sentence! However, for those of us who enjoy "car accident shows" - the ones you grimace at, but can't turn away from...Flav is gold. If you have nothing else to do, try assembling a group of friends to watch it over drinks. This way you can increase your foolishness tolerance and not feel as though you've completely wasted your evening.

Cheers!