La Ink Tattoos Address

Whether it's spending hours in front of a HD set at home or making the hours pass quicker at work by glancing at a TV, television as a medium gets a bad rap. From the old wives' tales that sitting too close will make you go blind (it won't) to the accusations that all programming is explosions and bad guys, sometimes the better offerings of TV get overlooked. Yes, occasionally a good series on HBO or Showtime draws intellectuals in, but in the past, making a case for the value of television programming was something that no intellectual, let alone parent, wanted to do.

And yet recently, there's been a boom in popular reality television series that actually teach creativity. Yes, creativity. With the expansion of satellite TV to include hundreds and hundreds of channels, sometimes the best examples of quality programming get lost in the overwhelming amount of options available to watch at any time. Luckily, we're here with a quick overview of some of the most surprisingly informative programming that brightens young minds. More than just that, these shows are incredibly encouraging tools that demonstrate the different ways that one can live and work creatively.

The biggest smash hit of television programming that shows creative process is Project Runway, where head of highly-esteemed Parsons/New School fashion department Tim Gunn advises contestants on how to improve their designs to not get laughed or voted off the runway. Winners of past seasons have included small-town visionaries and fresh-out-of-school idealists, as well as egotistical designers who had already made names for themselves in the fashion world. Just like in sports, viewers of this show can root for the underdog. While the cutting wit and usual reality-TV drama draw in some viewers, most are coming to see what fashions the team whipped up this week.

Project Runway might be the most obvious choice for a show on satellite TV that focuses more on skills than drama, but others abound, in very unlikely places sometimes, too. Time Warp on Discovery is a science program that focuses on slowing movements through high-tech HD cameras developed at MIT, but their focus is often on creative pursuits as well as interesting answers to scientific questions. One episode featured footage of a tattoo being done in slow motion.

Speaking of tattoos, whether or not viewers are inked, they certainly are flocking to shows where the process behind designing and finally doing a tattoo is detailed in full. For many households across America, the idea of a tattoo artist is no longer an oxymoron as they've gotten to know Ari and Kat through "Miami Ink" and "LA Ink." While parents might not want their children growing up to be covered in ink, it's an interesting program that shows a different creative way of working creatively--and really, it's more likely that a tattoo artist would be employed in this economy than most types of visual artists!

Think that the only artists out there design clothes or draw pictures? Think again. Food can be art, too, and there's a great deal of skillful preparation and creative energy involved in most culinary work. Nowhere is that as obvious as with desserts, and that's why Ace of Cakes has really taken off. Centered around a bakery in Baltimore, chef Duff Goldman and his employees, all of whom hold degrees in the arts, design cakes like none you've ever seen before. These aren't regular cakes: these custom jobs are time-consuming and require a whole lot of creative thought--after all, it's not easy to reconstruct an edible version of Wrigley Field or incorporate fireworks into a baked good.

Hoping to spark your own creative energy (or convince mom and dad there's a possible future after art school)? directtv has you covered. Check out the latest directtv deals to find the best way to see all your favorite creative television shows and more.