So you've probably gathered by now that all the Guyspeak guys have been asked to blog about engagements this week as a way to promote a web series on the WE tv site called Put A Ring On It. Ordinarily I'd say, "Put a ring on THIS" and grab my crotch, but since WE owns Guyspeak and pays my salary, I instead said "Gosh, could I?!" Hey, don't judge. We all gotta serve somebody.

Speaking of judging, as I watched the show, I rolled my eyes (I'm the Wise Ass, it's what I do) when Michael said he wanted to "stop time" when he proposed to Nadia. No, not Stop, Hammer Time!, which would've been awesome. Just plain old stop time.

If you do a proposal right, time will stop on its own, and you won't need to hire a roomful of actors to go silent on your command. Of course, there would be no Put A Ring On It without this sort of contrivance, so I get that it's a necessary evil. Still -- a bit desperate, I thought, which is how I regard all showy things people do in public that I think should be done in private. Call me a romantic.

So I watched as the three experts went about making Michael's proposal dream come true. The plans were made, the trap was set, the day arrived. Then a funny thing happened when it was time for the big moment. The room went silent, Nadia started looking all "WTF?!" and Michael appeared, stiff and severe and silent, staring Nadia down with a Dr. T.J. Eckleberg-meets-Hannibal-Lecter-esque intensity. I was waiting for him to say, "Well hello, Nadia. Are the lambs still screaming?" when yours truly -- god I can't believe I'm admitting this, but fug it -- I got just a wee bit choked up. Just for a sec. Half a sec, even. But I did.

I guess for all its inherent reality-show artificiality, Michael's proposal (and Nadia's response) was very real and touched even my tiny little heart, which means it worked -- for them, and, because of that, for me, too. Told you I was a romantic.

Now, I don't care for reality shows any more than you do, although I've watched my share. The ones that work don't work because of the contrived set-ups -- people dropped into a jungle or  forced to lose weight because the camera sees every scone and pat of butter they shove into their mouths. The shows that work do so in spite of those set-ups. Anytime you can get authentic, meaningful emotion on the screen, real people struggling or rejoicing or overcoming things the same way we all do, you've got something. That's why Put A Ring On It was a nice seven-minute break from my day. In the end, it was real.

So give the show a look-see. If a crusty old crank like me can be moved by it, I bet you can, too.