Guilty pleasures and sleeper hits

Summer is a different time for reality shows. It can be hard to get into a groove of watching one show on a regular basis. Instead I find myself dipping in and out of different shows, checking out the kind of show I might normally never tune into.

This week, we share the reality shows we think should be the sleeper hits of the summer, as well as our own guilty-pleasure summer shows. We'll return to your questions next week.

Gael says: My sleeper hit is ABC's "The Scholar," which I didn't discover until just a couple of weeks ago, and which has its finale Monday night. I admit, when I first heard this show's premise — super-smart kids compete for college scholarships — I about yawned myself to sleep. I envisioned an entire show of kids filling in standardized tests with number-two pencils.

Granted, "The Scholar" is a slower-paced show than, say, "Fear Factor," but after one episode, I was hooked. Part of what hooked me was the kids themselves. With 4.99 grade-point averages and 8 zillion extra-curriculars, they're used to working hard and succeeding. Unlike, say the drunken losers who now popular "The Real World," these young people are actually inspiring. And as befitting the kids' class, their tasks don't involve eating live octopus or bungee jumping, instead they make a student film based on a Shakespeare quote, or take a test about presidents, vice-presidents and the Constitution.

I also admit to a slight crush on bushy-eyebrowed Davis, the cockiest of the bunch. He wants to be president of the United States someday, and after watching him on "The Scholar," I wouldn't want to get in his way. (Still, there was some classic reality-show drama when he bungled a question about presidents who'd been assassinated -- he mistook "twentieth century" for "nineteenth century," and just couldn't figure out where he'd gone wrong.)

Brides go berserk!
My guilty pleasure show is a world away from the classy industriousness of "The Scholar;" it's "Bridezillas" on WE. In case you can't tell from the Web site animation of a bride ending up in a strait jacket (because mental illness is hilarious!), you should see the opening credits, which include the bride attacking an ice sculpture with a chain saw and a theme song that rhymes "Bridezilla" with "can't talk to her, can't kill her."

The first season of "Bridezillas" offered only super-expensive weddings, where viewers could spend half the episode mentally listing the things that could have been bought with the cash dropped on the wedding. (A car. A small house. A trip around the world...) This season has downsized a little, but it's still embarrassing to watch. There's the bride who calls the cops because her mom's rental car has a flat tire. A teen bride who dated her groom all of three times before getting engaged. Almost all of the brides swear like sailors. There's no demure Grace Kelly or Princess Diana here, and that makes for TV that's so bad it's great.

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