Reality [TV] in Germany

I don't have a TV in my apartment, and I'm not sure that I want one. The devil on one shoulder makes some good points. The days are getting shorter...wouldn't it be nice..."Pillars of the Earth (Die Säulen der Erde) without having to watch it at the gym...

But the angel on the other shoulder reassures me that I don't have the time, I should be social and at the gym and volunteering and making the world a better place, blah blah blah.

So, I will settle for TV at the gym--and boy, can it be entertaining.

Today, I watched a particularly inventive show called "Betrugsfälle" about women not only becoming victims of fraud, but, as one woman lamented, victims of a broken heart. Barf. A self-described "scripted-Doku," these women--usually middle-aged and blonde--are tricked by the same man who claims to be in love with them and then takes all of their money. One scene showed the victim's smarter, fatter brunette friend trying to knock some sense into her. The victim responded, doe-eyed: "that just isn't Frank! He would never do that! I love him!" At the end, the brunette lures Frank into a trap, in which he is ambushed by an army of blonde, middle-aged women who had given him their life savings. Is this supposed to be some sort of "Girl Power!" moment?

Another good one is "Bauer sucht Frau." It's about a rugged(?) farmer who is desperately in need of a wife. Check out these gorgeous men. Ok, so the dairy farmer isn't too bad, but I am really falling for the "schüchterne Schwabe."

Then there's "Deutschland sucht den Superstar." Basically, it's "America's Got Talent" or "American Idol." Simple enough.

"Blondine sucht Prinz" (there's a lot of seeking going on in Germany, apparently) follows another familiar storyline: aged model (stripper?) is looking for a man, and makes them compete against each other by doing ridiculous things. Oh, and her platinum-blonde, supertanned mother (I often confuse the two) helps her make the decision. One man has her face tattooed all over her body. Sounds like a winner!

Finally, there's apparently a show in which priests, in robes, fight each other. REALLY fight each other. I guess I'm not at the gym when this artistic feat is on. Damn.