Guilty Pleasures 1.1 - My Top 5 GP TV Shows

After I composed my most recent post about Guilty Pleasures, discussed this topic during dinner with my former carpool buddies at our monthly "meeting of the minds," and read a post on guilty pleasure movies by Kristen @ See You in a Porridge, I decided it might be fun to do a Top 10 list of my own.  Since I referenced Sons of Anarchy in my original guilty pleasure post, I thought, "Hey, I'll start with TV shows."

Then I hit a small snafu.

Due to my lack of TV viewing in recent years,  I seriously can't come up with 10 shows that fit the guilty pleasure criteria (something I enjoy watching but am not too keen on people knowing).  I was, however, able to come up with five.  So, without further ado, here are my... 

Top 5 Guilty Pleasure TV Shows of All Time:

5.  Any show dealing with hoarding.  Hoarders ran on A&E from 2009-13. Hoarding: Buried Alive is still airing on TLC, I believe.  I haven't watched either show in several years simply because I don't watch that much TV anymore. 

Why I watched them:  As weird as it sounds, this phenomenon utterly fascinates me.  And, if I need a self-esteem boost on the state of my own house, this kind of show always does the trick.  

4.  The L Word
The L word ran on Showtime from 2004-09.  It was a modern day soap opera that showcased the entwined lives of trendy lesbians and bisexuals in Los Angeles.  

Why I watched it:  I grew up watching soap operas like Days of Our Lives and Another World, need I say more?  I simply found it fun to get lost for an hour or so in the craziness of these gals' lives.  It was a soap opera with a twist.

3.  Big Love
Big Love aired on HBO from 2006-11.  It was a  modern day soap opera that showcased the lives of a polygamist family in Utah that hid in plain sight.

Why I watched it:  Again, I grew up watching soap operas (I'm seeing a trend here).  Although fictional, it was interesting to see what the life of a modern polygamist family (those that do not live on compounds) might look like.  There was something about it that simply appealed to my curious nature.  Like The L Word, it was a soap opera with a twist.

2.  Sons of Anarchy
SOA ran on FX from 2008 to 2014.  It was a modern day, testosterone fueled soap opera geared towards men that showcased the lives of members of an outlaw motorcycle club in northern California.

Why I watched it:  Two words - Jax Teller.  HAHA!    Seriously, though, SOA was unlike any show I had ever watched before.  The storyline was intriguing and Kurt Sutter had a knack for season cliffhangers that just kept me wanting more.  For a few months, since I binge watched the entire series in 3 1/2 months, I was able to escape real life and live vicariously in a crazy, dangerous, adrenaline fueled world.  And, I won't lie, Charlie Hunnam (who played Jax Teller) was extremely easy on the eyes.

1.  Masters of Sex
Masters of Sex first aired on Showtime in 2013 and will begin its third season this Sunday (July 12).  A period drama that showcases the pioneering, controversial research and the subsequent relationship of Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson.  (Masters and Johnson are considered pioneers in human sexuality.) 

Why I watch it:  It's part historical, it's part educational, it's part taboo.  It totally dispels anything and everything I thought I knew about how people behaved in the 1950s.  

Do you know of any TV shows that I haven't watched that are worthy of being mentioned?  Do you have a guilty pleasure TV show?  Please feel free to comment below and share if you do!