What entertains you?

After four years without a television in my home, I recently got a television and satellite tv. I am appalled at the ridiculous of many of the shows that are advertised.
They seem to have just a few common threads -food, sex, pretentiousness, violence, conflict and people behaving badly or stupidly.
Now, the Smithsonian channel has some interesting programming, and I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t admit (with my head hung in shame) that I am completely hooked on The Borgias and Game of Thrones, both of which have plenty of silliness, gratuitous sex and violence and blatant “keep you watching” ploys.
I shake my head in wonder at the rest. I can’t imagine who is entertained by watching other people eat. Or the whole WWF (or whatever the initials are, they seem to keep changing), NASCAR, really any of the reality shows, and even lots of the crime solving stuff. Now lots of it is that it makes me insane listening to someone tell a story in the past tense but speak in present tense. But much of it is so ridiculously drawn out, they don’t get to the point before the commercial, then they spend the first five minutes after the commercial recapping everything, I have to shut it off or have a meltdown!
I must conclude that television is not for me. I have my high speed internet and my books, and an occasional night out if I want company.
Can anyone tell me about entertaining programming and the appeal? I frequently feel like an outsider, because obviously other people like it. What am I missing here?