In Praise of Tori

I just love Tori Spelling.

Those are five words I never imagined I'd utter. But against all odds, it's true.

To qualify this statement, I must make another cringe-worthy admission. I've been watching Oxygen's "Tori and Dean: Inn Love" lately. A lot. In fact, while I'm making confessions, I need to tell you that my TV watching tastes are atrocious, running from police drama (that's a fancy way to say "Cops") to talk shows (Sylvia Brown on Montel is a DVR-worthy favorite, but I draw the line at Maury or Springer) to, yes, celeb reality.

Tori and Dean are my current favored fix.

Most of celeb reality, of course, is an opportunity to rubber-neck, check out how the other half lives while I avoid scrubbing the toilet for just a little while longer. What I like about Tori and Dean, however, is that they seem so, well, normal.

Consider this: Spelling had a baby, and she looks like a woman that had a baby. On this week's episode (I'm paraphrasing -- I'll leave transcripts to the "Lost" and "24" forum devotees): "People are used to seeing celebrities snap right back after having a baby, but that's just not how it works." It does appear to work that way for most celebrities -- do they do the tummy tuck right there in the delivery room? If so, Tori didn't get that memo, it seems. Upon viewing a plate set out for guests, filled with diet-busting pastries, she commented, "I want to stick those donut holes in every orifice of my body." Go Tori!

Other highlights include wrangling a mouse out of a bathtub with rubber gloves and a shoe (not to smoosh it, but rather transport it to a woodland home), and scraping aside bird poo to put up a flier for her yard sale.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know what you're thinking. Duh -- it's a TV show. They want her to come off likeable, relatable, normal. She's an actress. Did I say duh?

Yes, she has a nanny. Yes, she balked at selling clothing she never wears because it's Chanel! But for a woman who grew up in the house of a billionaire, her hanger-on friends seem more spoiled than she does.

Maybe it's because of some reality checks. Failed marriage. Feuding with mother. Minuscule inheritance, comparatively (only $800,000!), acting career relegated to the B range. Public humiliation, in it's many forms, tends to create perspective. Or maybe it's just that she's a better actress than I give her credit for.

Regardless, it's awfully nice to see a female paparazzi target who A) is actually working at something, and B) doesn't act as if their mere existence entitles them to great wealth and adoration.

That alone makes me want to root for her.

Now, pass the donut holes.