Short List: Laura’s Top 10 Guilty Pleasure TV Shows

10. The Ghost Whisperer - Sure, it’s overwrought and the dialogue is sometimes painful, but this show can be fun to watch from time to time. Why’d they have to kill her husband, though? Oh right, it’s a show about ghosts.

9. Cribs reruns - Late at night on ABC, an episode of Cribs comes on at an odd time, like ten minutes after the hour. But it’s worth tuning in if you’re up at that ungodly hour like me, because you get to see what’s in famous people’s refrigerators. And for some reason that never gets old.

8. Hole in the Wall - In this fine Japanese import, no matter how hard the contestants try, they all suffer humiliating failure, and it slowly dawns on them that they’re not meant to succeed. Now, that’s entertainment.

7. Just Shoot Me reruns - Thanks to TBS, this show airs for an hour every weekday, and I’m glad. It’s way the hell  better than everything else TBS shows in the afternoon, meaning King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Yes Dear (i.e. the trifecta of evil).

6. Diners, Drive-ins and Dives - I love pretty much everything on the Food Network, but this show is pure food porn, and it’s awesome.

5. 1000 Ways to Die - I don’t know if SpikeTV is still making episodes of this, because I stopped getting the channel, but it was definitely awesome. I would have included MANswers as well, but I don’t really feel guilty about watching that.

4. DeGrassi: The Next Generation - High school melodrama with Canadian accents…who could ask for more?

3. Wife Swap - When will those right wing conservative Christians and New Age pagans learn to get along? And how come every kid on this show is home schooled? If it’s because of scheduling, just film during summer break.

2. Dr. Phil - Even though it could be seen as exploitative, I can never look away, especially if it’s a “Dr. Phil House” episode.

1. COPS - When it comes to guilty pleasure TV, COPS is the original and still the best. Crackies and humorless authority figures…they make the best kind of odd couple.