This post was submitted by Ben K.

So this week I moved into a new apartment.  I have returned to high-rise condo life, and with it, have been given back some of the nicer amenities of that life.  It’s quieter, better built, nicer views, bigger laundry room, and so forth.  But forced back upon me by my living situation is an old and addictive friend that I haven’t missed in the past year, cable television.

See now, the cable is part of the package, it’s already included, and I don’t have to pay a penny extra for it.  Worse, it has a DVR, meaning I won’t ever miss anything.  I even gave up on free network shows as my TV habits fell away.  So there it is taunting me to come back, to waste my time, to stop living for myself and start living again through the lives of others (that’s right, I mean you Blair Waldorf).

I am trying with all my will to resist, but saying goodbye to my guilty pleasures in the first place was quite painful, and to let them back in now, after not seeing them for a year, I don’t know how I will receive them.  Will they be the same people I left behind?

The other day as I was unpacking and shamefully looking through the TV guide for my old friends, right away I discovered them begging me to come back.  There it was. “The Real Housewives of New Jersey: Reunion Special.”  My God, could it be true?   With everything I had in me I resisted, I prayed to not allow myself to do it, and suddenly something took over my thumb, hit the number combination on the remote and there they were.  Oh yes, there they were.  The last time I saw them, Teresa was flipping a table and had to be held back from attacking Danielle, and to my delight and horror, right as I changed to the episode there was Teresa being restrained from attacking Danielle.  Ah, it is good to know that some things just stay the same.

I have to tell you that my year largely without television has been greatly fulfilling.  In addition, I found myself watching the news channels too much when I had cable, and was just made constantly miserable by them.  With all that yelling, posing, pontificating, and silliness I just couldn’t take it anymore.  I’ve never seen grown adults make so many issues out of non-issues.  Even Anderson Cooper‘s biceps couldn’t keep me watching cable news.

So, I need recommendations, and I should say that I have basic cable with HBO and Showtime.   I promise to you, dear readers, that I will not get sucked back into the tube. I know that there is great stuff out there.  I’m thinking a commitment to just one or two shows would be worth it, so please, tell me those shows that I need to be watching right now.  I’m a clean slate friends, I’ve not watched Mad Men, True Blood, Damages, or any of the other shows I constantly hear people talking about.  What do you think? Give me something good to watch.

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