I would like to preface this by saying that everyone has their weaknesses, their indulgences, and their guilty pleasures. Maybe it’s eating that entire Hershey bar when you know its bad for you. Maybe it’s sleeping until noon on a perfectly good saturday. We all have at least one. My guilty pleasure, which I am choosing to share with you today, is the Bravo Channel.

For those of you who don’t know much about Bravo or have never seen it, I both commend you and secretly feel sorry for you. Bravo is a television network made up primarily of reality tv shows.

My introduction to the Bravo channel can be fully blamed on my mother. We had just moved from New Jersey to Massachusetts when The Real Housewives of New Jersey was set to air. What better remedy for a former New Jersey housewife missing her home than a television show based on just that, middle aged woman from the Garden State itself. I never really watched the show until I saw the finale episode of season one. My mom had called me in to show me that they were filming at a restaurant that my parents had been to. That is when I saw Teresa Giudice, New Jersey housewife, flip a table while screaming at another woman. My mom and I gasped but then started hysterically laughing. I was shocked and completely amused. I was fully invested in a tv show that I had never seen before. That is the moment I became obsessed with not only the Real Housewives franchise but any other Bravo reality tv show.

“Reality television is trash!” I’ve heard that one a thousand times to many. The other one that I am quite tired of hearing is, “reality tv is contaminating the minds of our youth!” Here is my response, no one should be taking a tv show, reality or not, that seriously. My parents used to be obsessed with The Soprano’s and Lost. Did my dad go out and join the mob? No. Was my mom constantly worried about people stranded on an island? No. TV shows are just tv shows. They shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Do I condone the table flipping, gossipy, money spending actions of The Real Housewives? Absolutely not.

But if I don’t think it’s right, then why do I watch it? This is a good question which I am not sure I fully know the answer to. While I was initially hooked on the ill mannered behavior of the reality stars, it wasn’t the only thing that kept me coming to my tv every night. The one consistent thing about Bravo’s programs is the lavish and luxurious lifestyles that are portrayed. Millionaire Matchmaker is where you watch millionaires find love. Million Dollar Listing is where you watch realtors sell million dollar plus homes. And of course The Real Housewives where you watch the lives of wealthy woman and their friend circles. All of this makes for great t.v.

But if I just wanted to watch misbehaved rich people, I would put on the Kardashians. I think the real reason I love Bravo is the networks ability to satirize their own shows and underlie everything with humor. There is a reason I laughed when Teresa flipped the table in that season one finale. By just adding corky music in the background and inserting funny comments from the stars confessionals, Bravo reminds you of how ridiculous flipping a table is. Bravo has perfected comedic relief.

Luxury, misbehavior, and humor. Three of the reasons why my mom, sisters, and I crowd around the Tv to watch Bravo a couple times a week. (Much to his embarrassment, even my dad joins in sometimes.) Without Bravo I don’t know what I would do. Bravo is not only my guilty pleasure, but my escape from the stress of real reality.