Guilty Pleasures

Check it.

1) R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet" (a 5-part "urban operatta") - I caught this on VH1 (yeah, the last place you would expect to see R. Kelly) a few days ago.  Each part ends with a cliffhanger at the end of the video, so it's hard not to watch the entire thing.  Luckily, VH1 didn't let me down, and showed all 5 videos back-to-back!  It's quite a story, with every character involved in some sort of affair and hiding some sort of secret.  I think I've heard some of it on the radio, but you really need a visual to tell the story in a convincing fashion.

2) "The Inside" on FOX Wednesdays  - I was just flipping through when this show piqued my interest.  I ended up watching both episodes (I don't know if that's a regular thing, or just a July-6-let's-have-two-episodes thing).  The premise of the show centers on an FBI field office with agents who get deeply involved with the crimes that they solve.  For example, in the first episode, the hot blonde agent appears to have an emotional breakdown when she calls the suicide prevention hotline (the case involves people who had called it just before they were murdered).  At first, the other agents figure that she's just a really good actress, but then later realize that she had been kidnapped when she was 10 and used the call as her own personal outlet.  I couldn't really figure out why the agent in the second epsiode was so riled up about the criminal (besides the fact he ripped out his victim's hearts after he killed them), but I'm sure the agent had some kind of personal connection with one of the victims.  Anyways, I don't watch any of the other law/criminal shows, so this show might be just like the rest of them.  Except, of course, for the hot blonde FBI agent.