Train Wreck Syndrome?

Does anyone have a TV show that they know is absolutely awful, but they still can't stop watching it? I do.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager might be the worst show on TV. And right now, I'm admitting that I'm watching it, and I've watched it from the start, and I can not stop. I mean, I really can not stop watching this train wreck of a show.  The acting is horrible, the storylines are totally unrealistic, and its an ongoing dialogue between 16 and 17 year olds about sex, marriage, and babies, of which there is one and another on the way in this group of teens.

The fact that Molly Ringwald is in the show gave me hope. But the fact that Brenda Hampton, the creator of Seventh Heaven, is the creator of this one as well, should have kept me away from the beginning.  The cameos by several of the cast members of Seventh Heaven (less successful than Jessica Biel ones) have even made reference to it.  (The actress who played Ruthie, the sweet little girl, plays a straight up whore, and the actress that played Lucy plays a guidance counselor, and the first time they passed in the hallway there was this long glance of recognition. I snorted.) 

This show is seriously ridiculous.  The first season was OK - a teenage girl hooks up with the hottie drummer at band camp and ends up pregnant, and it showcases the hardships and how she deals with being a pregnant teen where the dad is not so much in the picture.  If it had ended after one season, it would probably have been OK. But for a show based solely off of that, how do you continue? I'll tell you how. Lots of talking about sex, especially with their parents, of which include Josie Bissett, Bobby Bacala, and the aforementioned Molly Ringwald. Teenagers getting married, or getting fake IDs to try. Or doing it just to try to manipulate the exes. Or because they think that's what happens when you have sex.  And don't get me started on the actress that plays the original pregnant teen's little sister. AWFUL.

But even knowing all of this, and knowing how utterly bad this show is, why can't I stop? I tell people the reason I don't play video games is because I have an addictive personality. Maybe that explains why I keep watching this show. Or maybe I just keep hoping that its actually going to get better...