If you've ever spent an afternoon bed rotting and binge watching the Lifetime channel, then you understand the strangely addictive appeal of shows like "Dance Moms," "Dr. Pimple Popper," or "Married at First Sight." The channel's often campy, sometimes cringey programming makes for entertaining television, but behind the scenes there have been some serious scandals that rival the drama of a "Ripped From the Headlines" movie. Affairs, arrests, and accusations of sensationalism, racism, and more have turned Lifetime from a guilty pleasure into one of the most controversial channels on the air that critics (and some viewers} love to hate.

Lifetime started innocently enough in 1984 as a low-budget channel geared toward women, featuring plenty of talk shows interspersed with syndicated series.

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