Am I the only one who doesn’t watch American Idol?
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- February
- 23
The numbers are in, and Jericho didn’t do so hot in the ratings war on Wednesday night, which some blame on its two-month hiatus. Others wisely point out that it’s up against the ratings juggernaut that is “American Idol.”
Am I the only one who doesn’t watch American Idol? I haven’t watched from the beginning and have no interest. I don’t watch any reality TV, actually, though we’ve gotten temporarily addicted to the occasional game show (“Deal or No Deal” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” each had us for a good season or so).
I have had a few guilty pleasures in reality TV  “Joe Millionaire” chief among them (the first season, didn’t see a minute of the second season). It was like watching a train wreck. I missed an episode or so, but I made sure to watch the finale. I watched semi-regularly for the first few seasons of “The Real World” on MTV.
And I’m not trying to say reality TV is beneath me  I’ve seen most episodes of “Charles in Charge”! (I’m not saying I’m proud of that, I’m just saying.)
I guess I just want my TV viewing to be escapist. As fake as most reality TV is, it’s still pretending to be real. And I’ve never particularly enjoyed variety shows (though as a very young girl, I did love me some “Donnie & Marie!”)
That’s all. I’ll stop now. I just sometimes feel like the only one in the world who doesn’t watch this show.
This entry was posted
on Friday, February 23rd, 2007 at 2:11 pm by Amy Vernon.
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It’s fine. You still have your soul, at least.
Thats OK Amy I dont watch it either.
I don’t watch AI either – and I have been known Charles in Charge on occassion too!
I feel so much better! I was beginning to feel like the cheese  standing all alone.
I just started hearing about Idol in the Times recently. Otherwise, it would have never have heard of it. Oh, Nicole Smith? Never heard of her till she passed away.
I get a free Journal News in my driveway once a week, and other news comes from the internet – where I can click or ignore the news that interests me.
I cannot stand American Idol. I find it very boring and the music either dull or downright irritating. I’d rather listen to any number of indie bands putting out original music than watch this glorified karaoke competition. (And I’d much rather see one of them get a recording contract than someone who can sing someone else’s pop songs well.)
I’m no TV snob. I watch plenty of reality tv: Survivor, Amazing Race. My ultimate guilty pleasure show is America’s Next Top Model.
But I’m a music snob. I really loathe AI.
(Crying.)
I refuse to even listen to the gossip. Don’t watch it (or any reality shows) or even want to know about it.
so that makes six people, counting Amy. Not enough to prevent AI from being a must-see cultural event—and, ourside of anna nicole TV—how many of those exist? Seriously, you’re only taking yourself out of the mainstream if you don’t at least check in from time to time. You want to be hating on AI? You want to talk back to the TV and tell the singers they’re lame? Be my guest. But be there.
Well, if you’re going to go by responses to Remote Access entries as an indication of who watches what, this entry’s gotten more responses than most other entries on the entire blog  so by your logic, virtually no one watches Grey’s Anatomy or Rome. And we know both of those assumptions would be wrong.
I just don’t feel that I have to be in “the mainstream” at all moments in time. I’m fully aware American Idol is a huge part of popular culture. But I’ve never felt like an outcast because I didn’t watch Idol.
That said, I wrote this entry precisely because I do sometimes feel as if I’m the only one who doesn’t watch. I was curious about others who didn’t watch, and why. Like I said, I’m not the most discriminating TV viewer, so it’s definitely not TV snobbery.
I just find singing competitions to be boring. And I don’t have lots of free time, with two kids, so spending  what is it now, three, four hours a week of Idol on TV?  that much time watching a show I don’t care about  now, that would be a waste.
Who cares about being in the “mainstream”? There are plenty of other entertainment options out there. Not everyone needs to like the same thing. I’m hardly going to watch a show featuring music I do not like just because everyone else is watching.