Diversity Comes in Many TV Shows: BU Favorites

The Situation

Over the past year, it seems that BU has had a growing interest in the TV-watching business. Shows such as “Lost,” “Glee,” and “The Jersey Shore” have created an uprising on our campus, and it seems that everyone is watching them and constantly referencing them in everyday conversations. But when you think about it, this is an awkward mix of shows. I’ve never seen “Jersey Shore,” but I’ve heard a lot about it, and I can’t think of any real similarities between “Jersey Shore,” “Glee,” and “Lost.” Being a “Lost” fanatic myself, I’m curious about why these three shows have become so popular on our campus, and the biggest question of all: which one is the best? According to Facebook fan groups, “Lost” comes in first with 1,814,052 fans, “Glee” is second with 1,575,257 fans, and “Jersey Shore” comes in last with just 891,372 fans; but as reliable as Facebook is, I’m not willing to put all my eggs in one basket. I went out into our great big campus to try to figure out why we love these shows, and the answer was pretty simple: because we can!

The classy cast of MTV's "The Jersey Shore"

The Results

As we groggily return from spring break and return to the monotonous everyday class schedule it’s nice to have some fun spring break memories to look back on. Pictures, new friends, and the occasional embarrassing Youtube video are always there to bring us back to those fun, carefree times that will soon seem so far away. And now on Amazon.com you can buy “Jersey Shore: the Box Set.” Just think – nine whole episodes plus bonus material of the cast, all there to keep you in the spring break mindset until that glorious last final rolls around and we can finally say it’s summer! According to several students I talked to, “The Jersey Shore” is a fun escape from the daily grind of classes, work, volunteering, and club activities that BU students face. Megan Garland, a sophomore in CAS says “It’s just silly. I usually don’t watch shows like ‘Jersey Shore,’ but it’s fun to see how other people live… and talk.” As fun as “The Jersey Shore” may be to watch, other students think it’s just ridiculous. “My roommate leaves the room whenever I put it on,” Garland says, “She’s thinks it’s pointless.”

4 8 15 16 23 42... who are you??

Maybe her roommate should watch “Lost.” I very recently became a “Lost” fan after watching all five seasons on Netflix in about three weeks. Needless to say, it has been a very confusing month for me, and now watching the sixth season, I’m still extremely LOST! As a friend once told me, “the title doesn’t refer to the characters on the show, it refers to the people watching the show.” For some unknown reason, “Lost” fans keep watching the show. For me, it’s all about the questions; I don’t have strong feelings for any characters on the show, but I just can’t stop watching until I see if they can actually answer all these questions in only nine episodes. CAS Sophomore Daniel Stryker says he doesn’t watch the show just for this reason. “I have enough school work, says Stryker, “I don’t want to spend my free time trying to figure out some crazy TV show.”

“Glee” appears to be the happy medium between these two shows; the dramedy is fun to watch, but you don’t have to have a PhD to figure it out. ENG Sophomore Shannon Grover, who has seen episodes of all three shows, says she likes “Glee” the best because “it’s not as dumb as ‘The Jersey Shore’ and less impossible than ‘Lost.’” Initially I was not interested in the show myself, but after all the positive feedback it got, I had to check it out. I was surprised at how quickly I fell in love with the show. Dan Chizzoniti, a senior in CAS, says, “I enjoy the combination of the musical singing and satirical comedy. It makes for a fun show to watch.” The show beat out the claims that it was a copy of Disney’s “High School Musical” movies by adding a little edge and a lot more of what high school is really like.

They may not look like much, but they're pretty cool

So which of these BU classics is the best TV show? That’s for you to decide! Go ahead and cast your votes. Is that your final answer? Don’t worry, you don’t have to just pick one!

About Bailey Sheats

Bailey (COM '11) is a Television writer for the Quad.

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