I’m pretty sure that I already watch too much television as a college student.

Before I came to Stanford, my parents told me, “If you have time to watch TV, you certainly have time to be doing other things.” By “other things,” they meant any number of productive options that most definitely don’t include watching the TV (and this is why I pay my own cable bill). Therefore, it’s unfortunate that in addition to whatever regular lineup of shows are on my weekly “can’t miss” list, I can’t resist a good awards show. That’s a whole lot of extra TV I find myself watching — the Golden Globes, the Grammys and obviously the upcoming Oscars (I may have even found myself watching the SAGs a few weekends ago, and it goes without saying that I watched the Emmys in the Fall). At three to four hours a pop, these damn awards shows are making me miss out on a whole lot of “other things” in life! But here’s why I can’t resist them:

1. They tell you what the good stuff is — Don’t have time to watch all of the movies or TV shows or listen to all of the CDs that come out in a year? You may not always agree with the ultimate selections, (I know everybody loves the Dixie Chicks, but did they seriously deserve to win practically every single Grammy? I also thought that every Golden Globe TV comedy nominee was more impressive than the cute but overrated “Ugly Betty.”) but at least all of these awards shows narrow down the options to a pool of the best stuff, from which we can choose what we do want to see.

2. Everything is so pretty...or ugly — I can’t quite articulate why we — or at least I — derive so much pleasure out of looking at the pretty people at the pretty venues with their pretty dresses (and tuxes?) and pretty jewelry, but for some reason, it’s supremely enjoyable. It’s also equally as fun to laugh at the celebs who, despite having a personal stylist and a whole lot of money, still manage to wear something heinous.

3. They have educational and practical value — You may be one of those weirdos that fancies yourself above watching movies or television, but even if you refuse to watch or listen to whatever the nominees are, it still is important to know what won. We don’t want to be too socially awkward, now do we? They even ask questions about entertainment-related subjects on “Jeopardy!” every so often. If it’s important enough to be on “Jeopardy!,” there can’t be any shame in having the knowledge, or spending three or four hours per awards show to gain that knowledge...

4. There’s usually some good controversy involved — Can you say Isaiah Washington backstage at the Golden Globes (and his little snafu where he repeated a certain word yet again in an attempt to convince people that he had never used that word originally)? Or...I don’t even like country music, but Faith Hill frowning and mouthing “What!” when Carrie Underwood won Vocalist of the Year at the CMAs was a laugh riot. And what about the controversy surrounding the Oscar presenter gift baskets this year? I think somebody suggested that $100,000 gift baskets for already rich celebrities are ludicrous when there’s starving children in the world, but we all know that the real reason why they’ve been nixed is that the IRS decided that from now on they’d be taxed like hell. You seriously can’t make this stuff up. (And if you don’t follow the awards season and watch the shows...you very well may miss out!)

5. They’re a spectacular method of procrastination — I could think of a worse way to spend four hours. Seriously. There’s also over 1,400 students in the “Stanford Students for Procrastination” Facebook group that I feel like I have a case for.

Now, there may be some of you out there with “other things” to do that will pose the question, “But can’t you get all of this information and save some time by watching a summary on an entertainment news program the following day, or watching notable clips on YouTube or just reading a list of the winners?” You may not believe me, but somehow it just isn’t the same...