Confession: My 2009 Guiltiest TV Treats

This spring I found myself exploring the huge variety of programming available in a digital world. Hundreds of channels, many of them niche-targeted have produced thousands of shows from the silly to the sublime. And today I confess to some of my guiltiest (and random) TV pleasures of 2009.

I don't know how my vocabulary ever functioned until it found "fabulosity" or should I say I found Style network's Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane. Before stumbling on the thirty minute peak into the like of Kimora Lee Simmons, the depth of my knowledge of the star was that she was married to Hip-Hop mega producer Russell Simmons. In reality the former model turned business woman is a mini-fashion mogul, aspiring jewelry designer (Hello Kitty diamond watches) and the mother of two young girls.

My pleasure in watching Kimora is the almost reverse-management and self-awareness lessons the Fabulous one eschews. From ordering her top executives to drop everything to plan a birthday party for her daughter, to her sudden "go green" initiative as long as we can still drive an assortment of large SUVs and "adjust" the carbon footprint - Kimora and the show are a laugh and a lesson in how not to be fabulous in the workplace.

Growing up in the Garden State, you know that I was front row center for the Real Housewives of New Jersey. The show is a great portrait of Jersey women and strong Italian families. If only Bravo could broadcast in "scent-o-vision" so I could smell the Jersey air and its 70% hairspray content and also the occasional whiff of toxic waste or a great Italian sub.

I've never been a fan of off-network sitcoms - you know Friends, MASH, and Seinfeld multi-programmed with multiple episodes each day - so I was shocked when I started to tune in regularly to Reba - the mildly successful family sitcom built around country music star Reba McIntyre. Sure the stories are predictable, the jokes written by third graders, but somewhere there is a good old fashioned charm to the show - especially in a world of too much reality.

From Reba to rebounds - I confess to tuning in regularly to watch the NBA Playoffs on ESPN and TNT. I've always been a huge sports fanatic and could watch any sport except the NBA. I don't know what it is that drew me in this year - the over hype of LeBron and Kobe and the root for the underdog spirit - but I haven't missed a game - and don't plan on it either!

The guiltiest TV treasure of 2009 is The Dish, Style network's version of Talk Soup that spoofs and dishes on all that is reality and over the top on TV. Heck I haven't even heard of half the shows they dish about - but I can tell you this - I will be checking them out in weeks to come. And the best part of The Dish is host Danielle Fishel - you know her as Topanga on the 90's sitcom Boy Meets World. Fishel is catty, charming, perky and irreverent - just like the Dish she delivers!

What are you watching on TV - confess in the comments below!