I STILL remember the first time I watched one of MTV’s earliest reality TV shows (to hit Malaysian shores, at least) Newlyweds.

Yeah, the show that hinted at just how intelligent Jessica Simpson is. It was the same show that sparked the ”Is this chicken or fish?” debate, where Jessica wasn’t sure what kind of meat tuna (also known as chicken of the sea) is — poultry, or seafood?

I watched the show week after week, seeing Jessica’s ditzy antics and her family running her personal life. For some odd reasons, I liked Jessica (like I said, odd reasons) and found her then-husband Nick Lachey cute as well.

The thought of seeing them in their personal moments excited the heck out of me. The show came at a time when I could only get my celebrity news from monthly magazines or by hooking up my age old PC to a dial-up modem to get online, which took forever and frustrated me so.

So seeing them on TV, acting normal and stuff, was a novelty and there was no chance that I would miss a single episode of it.

Then the channel started showing another reality show, The Ashlee Simpson Show, and I quickly became a fan of as well.

The show followed ”pre-nose job” Ashlee (Jessica’s younger sister) around as she worked on her debut album, Autobiography. It was especially awesome to see Jessica making her appearance in Ashlee’s show and vice-versa (I know, I couldn’t have sounded any lamer confessing that!)

By the time they started showing The Osbournes on television, I had already become a full-fledged reality TV show junkie and watched every celebrity-based TV series available. I couldn’t get enough of the celebrities’ crazy and out of this world lifestyles.

When they aired Britney Spears' Chaotic, I thought my life was complete.

To capitalise on impressionable ‘followers’ like myself, more TV channels started making celebrity-based reality TV shows and it suddenly became the only thing one could watch on TV.

At first it was exciting, but then as I saw more and more B and C-List celebs (like Hulk Hogan) desperately trying to claw their way back into the spotlight using this method, it became overwhelming.

Then a new trend started. A nobody became a somebody, thanks to reality TV and people like the Kardashians became famous overnight. Yeah, yeah we know Robert Kardashian Sr was one heck of a celebrity lawyer and Kim had a sex-tape with Ray Jay (who?) but that doesn’t justify why they are out-of-control famous!

Then I had some sort of a revelation. These people are famous because because of people like me who would watch any (and I mean ANY) celebrity junk they show on TV.

I started feeling nauseous everytime I saw any member of the Kardashian clan, or when watching shows like Giulliana & Bill, Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, Running in Heels and more. I knew that this couldn’t mean anything positive, so I did what I thought I’ll never, ever do; I quit reality TV shows.

Fast forward a few months. Last weekend, I found myself sitting on a couch in my living room, flipping the TV channels furiously, until it landed on a show I’ve never watched before, Jerseylicious. Hmm, what is this new show, I wondered, as I clicked a button on the remote to find out more about the show.

Jerseylicious is a series that focuses on a mother/daughter pair, Gayle Giacomo and Christy Pereira, as they go about their daily lives as hairstylists in New Jersey.

The show came on the heels of the unprecedented (and questionable, the question being: Why?) success of another New Jersey based TV show, Jersey Shore.

The latter centres on the lives of young people living and vacationing on the various resorts along the Jersey Shore.

Even if the show is not being aired in Malaysia (thank goodness), you guys must already be familiar with some of its cast members namely The Situation, Snooki and J-Woww and their absurd life motto GTL.

No, don't even bother thinking that the acronym stands for some pure words of wisdom. Nope. GTL stands for Gym, Tan and Laundry - the three things that the cast members have to do come rain or shine.

Anyway, back to the tackily-named show Jerseylicious … so I watched the whole episode (minus the first few minutes, of course) and guess what? It’s not so bad after all. It’s full of fake-tanned ladies getting their claws out, gossiping and living life, all while wearing sky-high heels and tonnes of make-up.

They make very little sense when they talk and they’re funny, awkward and weird. Now, I wonder what silly things they’re going to say next week.

Oh no, do I forsee a reality TV show addiction relapse? Nooooooo …

Sharm says: I need to get rid of that TV set in my living room.