Reality TV Commentary

It's no secret that we watch a lot of TV. Jeff watches so much Judge Judy that I am beginning to think she is a part of the family. I hear her voice more than I hear Jeff's. But there are a few reality shows that I like...or that I watch anyway.
The First 48 is a pretty morbid one. It tells the story of the first 48 hours after a homicide and the police's quest to solve the murder during this "golden" time in which most murder cases have an arrest. A season or so ago they started filming cases in Birmingham. Now Jeff and I have turned this show in to a puzzle...where do we know that person from? I swear just knowing it is filmed in our city makes all the victims, suspects and their families look familiar.

Speaking of shows filmed in our city, this weeks Undercover Boss had two segments filmed here. They highlighted Direct TV and the President/CEO who went "undercover" to see what strengths/areas for improvement can be identified in field operations or at the "grassroots level". He spent a day in the training center in Bessemer doing service calls and then another day with a tech/satellite installer in Birmingham. One of the days, he went on a service call to the house of one of Jeff's co-workers parents. So we actually could play the puzzle game again with this show. Regardless, it's a good show that usually ends in CEO's starting new incentive or training programs and giving money to their lowest paid, most deserving employees. Kinda heart-warming.

Ok...this show I watched for the first time this week and it disturbed me. But I couldn't look away. One man married to three woman and planning a wedding with a fourth. 13 children. Drama. Is it legal? No. But it sure is entertaining.

This one I have watched since it started a couple seasons ago. Mostly I started watching it because there was nothing else on. The first season it featured a new teenage girl each week and her story of pregnancy and new motherhood (the 16 and Pregnant days). The second season it chose 4 of these girls and followed them and their children through year one and now year two. The show definitely shows how chaotic the lives of young women can be and how different people approach parenthood. There is one that abuses her baby daddy and lets her daughter cry herself crazy, another that lives for her son but can't balance custody with the father, going to college, dating a new boy and basically young adult life. A third is dealing with single motherhood, financial problems and a bad relationship with her own parents while grieving the death of her baby's dad.

The final teen mom is the one that keeps me watching. Catelynn. Poor thing. She and her baby's father made the decision to place their daughter for adoption against the wishes of their parents. The show watched her have her baby and showed her say good-bye. Now it shows her journey through teenage years as she grieves her baby and continues to suffer the cruelty of her mother who is angry about the adoption and...well just plain angry.

Catelynn and Tyler (above) are such a neat couple who acknowledge that giving their baby a good home was the best decision for them and for her and are actually planning to get married, go to college and have a family some day when they are ready. The adoption is semi-open and in tonight's episode they get to see the baby for the first time since her birth. I am just in awe of this young couple. They are such teenagers but so mature when it comes to their daughter. As an adoptive mommy-in-waiting, it is so heart-warming to see this perspective and such a validation that there are so many facets of any adoption. Even with all of this, Catelynn is still a teenager in high school who is basically abused by her mother. I just want to give her a great big hug and tell her how awesome she is and how much I admire her strength. Well poo I just went and got emotional.

That concludes my reality TV commentary for this evening.