The Minnesota Farm Woman

I will be the first to admit that I watch too much TV. I love to watch shows on cooking, gardening and health with a little “Desperate Housewives” thrown in for good measure. I have noticed that more and more, though,  everything has become a reality show.  My favorite simple gardening shows have made way for more expensive makeovers with a budget for a single back yard more than I make in a year.   My cooking shows have become challenges for those who can make the most edible dish using antelope liver, orange jello and pickled beets.  America has made Snooki a millionaire, so shows about “real” housewives are popping up on every channel.  In the meantime, one thing in the TV world has been constant:  the soap opera.  There is murder, mayhem, sex and the mafia.  There are marriages, divorces and teenagers who make our own look like angels.  There is death, but it may not be forever.  People may make fun of a fairly intelligent, college educated woman who watches the soaps, but I watch two of them every evening on DVR while whizzing through the commercials.  Go ahead, make fun of me. We soap fans know that there is not a bit of reality in our stories, and best of all, there are no reruns.  Unfortunately, several of the soap operas have recently been canceled.  They are losing fans to talk shows, QVC  and reruns of “Criminal Minds”.  I am sad to see them go. I listen to the news every morning and it is usually not so good.  Every day it is war, natural and man-made disasters, the economy, and people behaving badly. For a little while every evening, my soaps take me away to fictional towns and familiar characters and I know who the bad guys are.  The things that entertain us are changing in these troubled times.  The highest paid actor on TV would probably be in jail if he lived in my neighborhood, yet we are still fascinated by him.  We watch shows with more *bleeps* than words and call it humor.  Having sextuplets is no longer a miracle but a contract for a reality show and a free tummy-tuck for the mom.  I wonder how a show featuring a family with 19 children can make it through three seasons. Is it that good?   Most of all, what I really want to know is:  Will  Erica get married for the 11th time?  Did Zach REALLY die in the plane crash?  Will Tess/Jess fall in love with her husband, or will it stay a marriage of convenience? I’ll have to tune in tomorrow to find out.