Thursday, April 12, 2007

Los Angeles' Reality TV: I finally struck the mother-lode!

When I first moved to upstate New York, I found myself watching some of the crappiest reality television ever. I couldn't figure out my new-found attraction for this junk, until one day I found my eyes glued to a car commercial, narrating to John exactly which obscure,seemingly anonymous (but not to these expert eyes!) streets the car was driving down.

Then it struck me: I watch this reality TV crap to alleviate my homesickness, since it's all filmed at places I used to live, work or play. Chasen's restaurant in Beverly Hills? It was converted into a Bristol Farms- scratch that- it was converted to MY local grocery store, and now it seems that every time some reality TV person goes shopping, they are treading down MY old bread aisle.

"The Apprentice: Los Angeles"? They can't use enough of my old haunts. One of their first challenges was selling car washes at MY old car wash, the Santa Palm (does that mean "holy palm"? I'm thinking I missed the day at CCD when we learned about that saint.)

So, after all this gratuitous LA-based-TV-watching, I hit the mother lode of my dreams: I've been watching this show called Top Design, which is an elimination competition for interior designers. The contestants have been living in West L.A. and working out of the Pacific Design Center, a couple of blocks from my old place in Beverly Hills.

But last night, I can't even stand how great it was- the finale had the final two contestants . . . designing an entire 2,700 square foot loft . . . i'm a twitter already . . . in Downtown Los Angeles . . . which loft project will it be? i know them all intimately . . . at the SANTA FE BUILDING . . . holy crap that is my friend Marie's old building that she moved out of because it was being overhauled . . . and they are doing the SIXTH FLOOR . . . that is Marie's freaking UNIT the contestant is designing for the final episode!

How awesome to see her gorgeous, expansive loft- with its 1920s architecture and incredible wall-to-ceiling views of the downtown skyline in the background, the incredible architecture of the neighboring beaux arts vintage commercial buildings seemingly close enough to touch from the sixth floor perch. The designer working on Marie's loft didn't win, but DAMN did it look hot.

That was enough reality-tv-crack to keep me watching that crap for another two years, in hopes of hitting another close-to-home jackpot.

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