There is good tv and there is trash tv. We love the trash and we’re not afraid to admit it, no matter how problematic, poorly-written and just plain bad it is. This week’s queue features Arcade’s guiltiest of pleasures tv shows. Let’s cringe together!

The Inbetweeners (British Version)

I will proudly admit that I have watched this entire show several times through: once my Freshman year of High School, once my Junior year of High School, and again my Freshman year of college. Needless to say, this show has been in my life for some time. Thankfully, the writers kept the show to only three seasons, ensuring that each season was filled with only the best episodes. It also ensures that I do not spend my entire life watching it. For those who aren’t familiar with the series, the show follows four teenagers in England struggling to survive high school, covering topics ranging from getting girlfriends, to getting into clubs, to dealing with indigestion during exams. I am warning readers that this show is not for everyone. I will never be okay with the fact that it can be very degrading towards women and that it is problematic in so many other ways, too, but if a group of teenage boys can be so desperate for popularity and sex that it makes me cry from laughing, I’ll take it. Hey, it’s a guilty pleasure. Though the characters will make you cringe throughout, they are also relatable on many levels, and it sure does make me glad I’m not in high school anymore. P.S. if you are not familiar with British vernacular, I would recommend subtitles on this one.

Sex and the City

Again, this show can be very problematic in certain episodes as well as in the general lack of diversity in casting. Though it was written in the 90s, they still should have known better. The show, however, following four single women in Manhattan, has become a dating survival guide for many at Tulane. Talk about the end of love in college? Well Manhattan seems to have had the same problem since the 90s. Whether you’re navigating the world of thirst at The Boot, trying to escape a threesome, or craving a relationship that just isn’t going to happen, these four successful women can teach anyone that being on your own is perfectly fine and can even be a little fun at times.

Ex on the Beach

If you’re a fan of shows like Jersey Shore, or its British equivalents, this may just be the show for you. When I feel like I don’t have enough drama in my life already, this show is bound to make me laugh and roll my eyes at the same time. The show takes a group of reality TV stars and puts them in a beach mansion to live together. The characters are all under the belief that they will be the only ones in the show, but then comes one ugly surprise after another as each of them has an ex that shows up on the beach each week. Think seeing an ex every day on McAlister is bad? Imagine living in a house with your ex’s wandering eye and a bunch of other hot people.

Floribama Shore

Jersey Shore’s southern younger sibling.

Rarely is the spin-off version of a show just as good (or in this case trash) as the original, but Floribama Shore, the seed of MTV’s infamous Jersey Shore, defies the odds. You don’t need to have watched Jersey Shore to get sucked in, as the premise is pretty straight forward. The show follows eight young adults who learn to live, love, and club together in Panama City Beach. With each personality from a different part of the south, you get a healthy fix of southern and country nonsense. As classically trashy reality television, Floribama Shore follows the modern reality TV formula to a T, which makes it majorly successful (though many argue it will never be as successful as Jersey Shore because the concept is no longer novel). Young strangers with wild personalities plus a penchant for binge-drinking equals mischief, comic relief and good ol’ drama.

Gossip Girl

Absolutely iconic teen TV.

Arguably one of the best teen dramas of all time, Gossip Girl paved the way for racier teen TV: sex, drugs, money, scandal and an awesome soundtrack. Unlike some if its teen drama contemporaries (90210, The O.C., The Hills, etc.), Gossip Girl went there, and to top it off, its actors were just as enviable, beautiful and charismatic as its characters. And of course, what would a teen drama be without an element of half-assed mystery (who is the anonymous Perez Hilton upgrade that is Gossip Girl??) as well as half-assed social commentary? The show saw six seasons, a massive international following, and a terrible series finale. There’s something a general teen audience loves about seeing rich kids at play, especially when there is an “everyman’s” lense to glimpse through (i.e. Dan Humphrey), and especially when it’s set in the Upper East Side.

-xoxo, The Hullabaloo