Privately enjoying Private Practice

I come from a family of four boys raised by a construction worker as a father and a mother that grew up as a tomboy––the walls of my house were basically painted with testosterone. Needless to say, I have not had much exposure to melodramatic television shows such as Private Practice. 

But wait...is that actually true?

I contemplated this statement and realized that I’m full of shit if I truly believe that the discretion of my television consumption is anything short of melodramatic. What helped me realize this was my reaction while watching Private Practice. I tried to watch the show from a dual perspective: an analytical standpoint, and then from the perception of mere entertainment. The entertainment aspect of my observation kept wanting to exclaim the cheesiness of the show, yet at the same time I was secretly judging the characters and coming to my own conclusions––aka filling in the gaps––as if I were a middle school drama queen. Yikes. I reluctantly wanted to continue watching while wondering why part of me was actually invested in the characters. Then my analytical persona became overt as I began to take into consideration the two main television shows that have enthralled my life over the past few years: Lost, and The Walking Dead. Both of those shows do a fantastic job with creating a gap (maybe bottomless pit is a more appropriate definition) that is not only alluring to the emotions, but demanding of them. Lost and The Walking Dead create a relationship with the viewer and the characters in the show, as well as an emotional demand and requirement to fill in the gap. Private Practice follows a similar formula, which is why I was easily (yet reluctantly) able to invest in the characters and desperately need to know what happens next. Is it emasculating to openly admit that I wouldn’t complain if we watched another episode of Private Practice? I think not.