How am I supposed to ease into the beginning of a new week, following an exciting afternoon of football, when I can’t get away from the TV from 7-11pm?
Scoff if you like, but America’s Funniest Home Videos is funny as hell. Tom Bergeron is no Bob Saget, thank god, and who couldn’t benefit from a little mindless slapstick humor while being forced to admit the weekend is over and start preparing for a return to the old grind? Then Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the most emotionally-manipulative tearjerker on TV, interferes with the kids’ bath and get-ready-for-bed time, forcing us into a graceless ballet in between commercials. The first 10 minutes and the final 20 are the must-see portions of the show, though, no distractions allowed, which means their usual bedtime gets extended by a half-hour.
At 9pm – kids in bed but still awake, the apartment littered with toys and other married-with-children hazards like a sink full of dishes, piles of unopened mail, shredded magazines and random clothing spead here and there – it’s time for Desperate Housewives. If we blink during the closing credits of EM:HE, we end up stuck to the couch for the first 10 minutes as ABC has perfected the “don’t change the channel” transition between shows that reels the unsuspecting viewer in like bad poets to an open mic. Housewives is without question the best guilty pleasure on TV since…well, since the A-Team if I’m being honest!
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