reality tv

So I spent a day and a half in a hospital recently.
I had a baby! wich meant that I spent a lot of time feeding the baby and watching TV. I haven't watched cable TV in a long time.

Here are some reviews of daytime cable television shows

"I didn't know I was pregnant"
It features dramatizations of women who only found out that they were pregnant when they were in active labor. These women supposedly gained little or no weight, and had other medical conditions to explain the usual symptoms of pregnancy. The stories are plausible, but the really great part are the dramatizations. They are way over the top and totally implausible.

Some of these stories are probably mostly true, however I think most of their case stories come from people who have some pre-existing 'psych issues'. Very dramatic.

"bringing home baby"
Reality show which shows the first few days of a family adjusting to a new baby at home. the classic conflict is mom and new mom have different ideas about taking care of the baby. This is a tired theme, but I really like it. I never tire of seeing mom and new mom passively aggressively fighting over how to take care of kids.
I also love how there is a staged neighborhood "welcome baby" party in nearly every episode. Maybe we will have a "welcome baby" party for our new kid.

"A baby story"
Chronicles the pregnancy and birth of a baby.
Freak factor; often features crazy people who want to use tai chi and power meditation to facilitate childbirth. (no offense to those tai chi childbirth instructors out there)
Why I like it: I like baby stories. Everyone likes baby stories.
I am always shocked by how many people are invited to the birth, what interesting things people try e.g. water birth, home birth in a wading pool, etc. What I need to remember is that the personality type that wants to be on a reality TV show is unconventional in other ways, and is by definition going to have an interesting story.
They don't feature my birth story because I am normal. No one wants normal. The interesting people make the great TV.

"adoption story"
I love that this was given a show. Adoption is a complicated and can be a beautiful process. I was touched by the story of the adoptive couple. Also, the heartache of the birth parents is addressed. The few episodes I saw were pretty good.
I would like to see more of this show, and I really don't have any criticism.

the little couple
looks like a spinoff of the popularity of little people big world . a young couple, 4ft and 3'2", shows that they are like everyone else. they go to the gym, make friends, shop for a house, etc. they really are normal they are just short. my favorite part: the wife shops for shows in the little girls' section (size 11). why do I like this show? I don't know but it is fun.

cake boss
Some tough italian family runs a bakery. Think a cross between the sopranoes, hells kitchen and Martha stewart. I like it when the guy in charge gets mad at everyone for not working fast enough and throws a fit. I think that baking and decorating cakes is not so manly, so he has to yell a lot to assert himself as the alpha male. It also makes a TV show out of what would otherwise be a silly show. It is a setup, but I liked it anyways.

Random sidenote:
There was some sort of cattle auction on TV for an entire morning. Do people call in and bid?! why was this on TV? I didn't get it but eventually I got bored enough that I would check in on the price of the herd. Maybe this is to appeal to old farmers. I think that they would enjoy a reality cattle auction show.

so now I am back home with my broadcast tv. If I ever have to be bedridden I will just get cable. it is very addicting.