Unreality Check

I started watching the series "Gossip Girl." I have to admit, I like it. I kind of like it a lot. There's an inherent desire to BE these characters or at least be friend with them. Who doesn't want to be a classy Upper East-ender? There's glamour and prestige and of course scandal. There's the kid who doesn't want the path his father is laying out for him, the girl seeking approval and slaying any in her path, and the outsider whom no one realizes is the most well-adjusted of the bunch. There's love and hate, joy and despair, light and dark. So life-like, really. Right? Well, maybe not...

But we want it to be that simple unfortunately we do not have professional writers scripting out our life plans or lack thereof. We have free will and make choices each day that make no sense. We lose the plot sometimes. And when the credits start rolling, we aren't bating our breath for ratings but whether or not there will be a breath tomorrow. So why the love of this kind of show?

I only ask because I need to know the answer for myself too. Why do I get absorbed in a television series? For me, I think it's the character development. it probably is for you too. I love watching the interactions of these characters as they "live their lives." My favorite episodes of Criminal Minds for example are ones where Dr. Reid or Morgan go back to their hometowns and discover something about their own story. I enjoy the episodes of House M.D. where we see the blooming relationship between Chase and Cameron or the dysfunction between House, Wilson and Cuddy. I'm drawn to these great stories about the characters I've come to share life with. But it all ends neatly in 50 minutes and I have to adjust again to unpredictable, chaotic, uncomfortably anti-climatic reality. If I could just be a part of something as exciting and moving as these characters are, maybe I would be as well-scripted and cool, for lack of a better word. I guess maybe I want others to want to be me the way I want to be Reid or Serena or Wilson. Is that too honest to admit?

One last thought on this TV World I've concocted for myself. And really it's a thought for you, my reader. What show do I identify more strongly with and why is that? Do I prefer Upper East End of NY (Gossip Girl), Newport Beach Cali (The OC), D.C (Bones/Criminal Minds)? Do I seek solace in the content of the show such as living an extravagant life (GG/OC), working tirelessly for the salvation of human life (CM), or being intelligent and wise thus making myself a required element of the team (Bones/House/CM)? What about you? Or am I the only living here in this oasis of Unreality?