Monday, January 30, 2012

My Can't Look Away TV Show

I've found a television show so mesmerizing, so terrifying, and so addictive, I can't turn the channel when it's on.

It disturbs me so much, after the show I have to mentally picture pretty things, like this gorgeous mountain scene.


The show? Animal Planet's Infested. (APL Fridays, 9pm)

Each episode chronicles three families who have experienced rodent or insect infestation in monstrous proportions. We're talking scorpions (scorpions!!), brown recluse spiders, some kind of mutant ant, bats, racoons, opossums, cockroaches, bird mites, bedbugs and--my personal favorite in that it freaks me out--the snake house.

The producers are geniuses. They start out with teasers on two of the families, and they work hard to build the suspense before revealing what particular infestation the family is dealing with. Then they cut away to a different family, flipping back and forth between stories and always leaving a cliffhanger at commercials. With interviews of the actual victims and re-enactments, the viewer gets an entertaining hour.

I often watch with a blanket ready to throw over my head. A series of gasps, "ew," "oh my goodness, oh my goodness," and "move out!" "burn it!" and "I couldn't stay a single night in that house" ensues.

My adrenaline kicks in, literally pushing me into fight or flight mode. Positive non-existent bugs are crawling over the surface of my skin, I get itchy. I also become paranoid. Is the kicked up area of mulch around the deck an extended family of possums ready to dig their way in? Could the gray spiders outside be making a move to invade our home?

You would think I'd be lunging for the remote to turn the television to something happy, something pleasant, but no. I become an angry wildebeest if anyone dares touch the remote during my show.

Last year's season of Infested was short, and I hope this year's season features more episodes. If not, I guess I'll have to enjoy the terror for now and wait patiently for the next installment.

Have you ever seen Infested? Are you insanely mesmerized by something that creeps you out?

If you have the January blues, head on over to MVRWA's blog today for my post, Vitamin D Anyone?

Enjoy the final gasps of January!

20 comments:

  1. Oh, GROSS! How in the world can you watch it??? I've never heard of this show (uh...thanks? for introducing me to this) and I don't think I can watch. I'd never be able to sleep again. You know what show mesmerizes me and creeps me out at the same time? Dance Moms. Oh, and I watched about 15 minutes of Hoarders last night. But that show just makes me mad.

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  2. It sounds awful! Ugh! But watching something like that could make us all feel grateful that we're not facing the same thing!

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  3. Ewww.... Well, my daughter watches a show called Curiosities which is about a shop that sells disgusting stuff...
    Dance Moms is facinating... Gypsy Weddings is pretty horrifying.
    Have a great day!!

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  4. This sounds like a show my kids would enjoy . . . and then would get nightmares from.

    I don't think we get the channel it's on. Too bad. Not that I would watch it.

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  5. Oh, that is something I could NOT watch! Even just seeing the veryvery fake CGI snakes on Once Upon a Time last night creeped me out - and my husband is a legitimate arachnophobe, so I definitely don't need to get any more freaked out by spiders, since they are the one nuisance problem I have to take care of around here. Thank goodness we live in the north, where winters are (usually, though not this year) cold enough that we never get too many problems with bugs!

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  6. I've seen 3 episodes of this show and won't watch another one. The three I watches were bed bugs, raccoons, and...I forget the other one. But they were all creepy! and the worst is when the people can't fix the problem and can't afford to move!

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  7. Yikes! No way could I watch that show!! I'd turn into a paranoid freak! I'm already terrified of recluse spiders....so the thought of my house being infested with them, or anything, would give me nightmares!

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  8. We were infested with ants in a condo we lived in right after we were married. I made sloppy joes one night. My husband lifted the bun up to his lips and you could see it moving. Ants had gotten in the package of bread, and we hadn't noticed until he had almost taken a bite. Yuck! It gives me the chills just thinking about it!

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  9. Seems like I saw an episode about rats and they had to bust down the walls, but that might have been Animal Hoarders, which happens to be my can't-look-away-from show!

    :) I could use some Vitamin D for sure!

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  10. I'm so going to need to check this out. Changing hundreds of diapers has prepared me well.

    I love Dirty Jobs for this exact reason and the host is the exact kind of witty I love.
    ~ Wendy

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  11. I'm so glad I don't have cable. I'd watch that and have to sleep with the lights on.

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  12. Yikes! I don't think I could watch that show. We had a ton of mice in our old house.

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  13. I've never seen Infested. I'll look for it and record it. I've seen a few episodes of Billy the Exterminator, and watched him kill a trailer full of roaches (I still cannot believe this poor woman and three kids were living with all these roaches - everywhere), deal with snakes, hornets, and bats...it gives me the shivers.

    It was on one night and before I knew it, I had sat through 5 episodes on A & E.

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  14. EWWWWWWWWW! I cannot imagine!

    But then again, I watch Criminal Minds with all the intensity of a true addict, and my family can't imagine why. They call it Creepy Show.

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  15. Loving all these comments! And I'm nodding in agreement with all of you--of course you don't want to watch this show! I don't want to watch it!!

    I'm terrified of all things creepy or crawly, so I'm flabbergasted on how I can sit through it. *shaking my head*

    Thanks SO much for stopping by!

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  16. Sorry - this show sounds awful. Once I thought we had termites and the Lord had to deal with me about my power of suggestion. He showed me that what I was sure was true, wasn't always true. I think this show would be a bad repeat of that time. You have a strong stomach.

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  17. I've seen the commercials for Infested but never watched the show. One of my favorites is Dirty Jobs. Every time I watch the host Mike Rowe go down a sewer, stick his hands in a horse's you-know-what, or paddle in a river of liquid refuse, I am appalled. But I can't turn myself away from it, lol!

    Yesterday I watched Hoarders: Buried Alive. That show repulsed me. I know it's for entertainment, but those poor people are dealing with pyschological issues that make them live that way.

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  18. I know! I know! I don't know why I am so attracted to this show. :)

    Brandi--I prefer the show "Hoarders" also on A&E. It shows them working with a therapist and a clean-up crew, and I just find it more compassionate and interesting.

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  19. Oh, man!! That sounds icky! I've seen Animal Hoarders and that was bad enough!!!

    I bet my kids would love it though with all the creepy crawlies. I can imagine it is hard not to watch while cringing!

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  20. I've never heard of this show but it sounds great! I'll have to check it out. Total B horror movie stuff. :)

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