The attraction of TV shows

As a TV junkie, I will say that watching television is not only for entertainment. In my mind, when I watch a show I really like it because I fantasize sometimes to be one of those characters. Why is it that we criticize these outrageous shows when we still love to watch them? An example that I can give you is Real World. The Real World is a show about random people that have never met and are put in a house to live together. Six strangers who are very different from each other. It only takes a matter of time, before drama starts rising. Then people start fighting, screaming at each other, sleeping with each other, and sleeping with every other person they meet. I know people say "The media has no limit now a days and shows things that in earlier years were not allowed. For example, now sex is everywhere and homosexuality and its okay now because there are shows that explicitly show everything." However, you must also think if it is so bad and people think its wrong, then why do these shows have such high ratings?