Intellectual TV

From my previous admission that I dvr almost 30 shows, it is no question that I like TV and might even consider it a hobby...if that is possible??. Lately, I have gotten into 3 shows that actually fall under the guise of "intellectual TV"(different from my typical use of the tube to drain all brain activity from my day), which may or may not be the reason (you mean this is NOT the Jersey Shore?) that some of them are failing to have tons of viewers (the other might be that they are on at horrible days of the week/times to actually get into them if you do not have a dvr...like Fridays and Sundays). Some of you are probably thinking that smart and TV together in one phrase is likely an oxymoron, or you might think that I am talking about watching the Discovery Channel (cough cough Cash Cab) or the History Channel, but, you naysayers would actually be wrong. These shows are featured on the same networks that show sitcoms and reality TV, but definitely fall on the "positive side" of the nerd radar (Side note, I wish this had a cool name like gay-dar, but I am just not that creative today):

1) Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution: I started to watch this show because my friends at FEED told me it was a must-see, and I will admit, I have not been disappointed. Jamie Oliver basically goes to a small town in West Virginia, which has been dubbed the "nation's most unhealthy city" by the CDC, and tries to incite change in the eating habits of the residents. He starts in an elementary school and high school, and his challenges as well as his feats are actually pretty inspiring (and educational). I have been particularly moved by the stories of the high school kids in the town, who have basically become his teen spokespeople, and was in awe of his trip to a mortuary where I learned about the price of an obese coffin and how hard even funerals/burials are when your relative/you are so obese (2 grave sites + this enormous coffin seen below).

Oh, and since I am never one to not be moved by a dancing flash mob, this scene DEFINITELY made me want to learn to cook/inspired me to want to change the eating system in US schools (I learned that French fries are counted as a vegetable!!). If only Jamie Oliver would move to my town and teach me to cook while we dance....

2) Who do you think you are?: A show that traces the ancestry of well-known celebrities using ancestry.com, local archives all over the world, and even genetic testing would obviously have gotten my attention on its' own, but in reality, if it were not for my mom and dad, I would never have seen a single episode. While I think their interest in the show either came from genetics (we are all science nerds) or Emmit Smith's involvement in it (Go Gators), we all admit that there is something cool about finding out that Sarah Jessica Parker was related to someone in the Salem Witch Trials, or that Brooke Shields is a descendant of Henry the IV of France and also the Sun King himself, Louis the XIV (her history is my  favorite by far...I mean come on...her ancestors lived in the LOUVRE and VERSAILLES. JEALOUS). Besides being a back alley history lesson and letting me learn more about the real lives of celebrities (like Lisa Kudrow even found a long lost relative), this show makes me want to trace my ancestry ASAP...and perhaps even do a trip around the world with that as the sole purpose. Hopefully then, I won't just tell people "no I am not Italian...even though I look it" and might know a little more about where I came from.

3) Price of Beauty: As ridiculous as this is to admit, Jessica Simpson is in an actual intelligent show (yes the same person who did not know if Chicken of the Sea was Tuna or Chicken). Before being bored and scrolling around on my on demand, I would never have watched something she did, but, I will admit that it is actually very interesting from an anthropological perspective. In the show, she tours around the world and learns what is beautiful in different cultures, what products people use for beauty, and even what spa treatments. She also frequently finds an example of how a person harms themselves to try to be beautiful in a certain cultural requirement (an anorexic woman in France, or a person whose skin bleaching treatments went awry in Thailand). While I know Jessica Simpson is an odd ambassador for this mission, I will admit that I have learned about some cool cultures (like one where women wear rings to elongate their necks--but it is their choice to do it), and have even cried (stupid new thing with crying at odd times) over some of the casualties of beauty. Yet, I would probably like this show more (since maybe it wouldn't be so much about the humor of the crazy stuff in the culture, like eating bugs) if the show was done by an anthropologist (like one of my personal favorites, Dr. Anne Becker).

Ultimately, if you want to watch some entertaining TV and even learn a little...I suggest tuning in to one of these shows (and feel free to comment and tell me your thoughts on it/them after watching). But, in the meantime, Glee starts back up today and I could not be more pumped. Yes, that is right, I am a GLEEK and damn proud of it.