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20. I'm A Battle Rapper (2005)

Jus Bam, Apollo & Swann are all three likable, motivated individuals in the rap battle scene. This isn't an amazing, groundbreaking episode or anything, but all 3 of them have their own struggles to overcome and they all give it their best. It's just an overall good episode, usually overlooked. This is what a good filler episode is like.





19. I'm Out (2006)

There were three gay people focused on in this episode: Josh, Josh & Kate. The first Josh, dating this flaming kid Ben, was interesting because Josh was new to the whole gay scene and they just seemed so different. The real interesting part of this episode was between Kate & her girlfriend Selby, because you hardly ever see lesbian relationships on True Life, if ever, and there's was just something completely different. They had trouble because they both had opposite comfort levels with their relationship and different circles of friends, and it strained their relationship.

Gnarls, AF, Paris & Hilary Duff, 2 of those make the list and 3 of them don't. That's all I'll say for now. =)

Couple more...

16. I'm Coming to America (2008)

This is a really interesting episode, as it follows a kid from a Thai refugee camp into trying to integrate in normal life in Texas (Houston, I think) and a girl from the Czech Republic that gets sponsored to play basketball at a college in New York. The Thai kid, Thimonthy, brings his family with him, but the Czech girl leaves her boyfriend behind, and it's fascinating to watch the Thai family struggle with getting used to American life and the Czech girl, Bara's, boyfriend not be able to get a visa to come and visit her.



15. A Map For Saturday (2008)

I know this is a True Life "special" and doesn't have one of the classic titles like "I'm A Staten Island Girl" or "I Have Tourette's Syndrome", but this episode was damn good. I love what the guy did and how much balls he had, and all the awesome people he met and all the places he went. I'm a geography major hoping to go into international tourism, and next semester I'll be spending abroad and visiting 12 different countries so I really loved this episode for many, many reasons.

Since this fell onto page 2 without any replies from the last update, I'm going to go straight down to the top 5.


12. I Panic (2008)

This was kinda similar to the O.C.D. episode, except for some reason this felt more "real". These people were too scared to do things, like driving across the Staten Island bridge or freaking out at their friends all the time. It's hard to explain this episode and the feelings it leaves you with, but it was definitely powerful and shows you how fear and panic can really control someone's life to an unreachable point.



11. I Live In The Projects (2007)

Vikki, pictured, is the star of this episode. She lives in the projects of Chicago and is trying to find a way out, and she's so nice and genuine that it's really painful to watch all the struggles she has to go through. She's positive throughout and determined to work her way out, no matter what type of job she has to take. The two others in this episode are a guy from Los Angeles who is in a gang and trying to change his ways, and a dumbass single mom named Jen who doesn't seem to realize what she's doing wrong.




10. I'm A Staten Island Girl (2006)

One of the major guilty pleasure episodes. This one doesn't feature anything heartbreaking or issues that we need to be made aware of, it just tells the stories of 3 entertaining, brash, stereotypical Staten Island girls who attempt (and usually fail) at acting, trying to move to Manhattan, and dating ("Staten Island jerk-off"). They're all orange, they all have the accent, and I think they even all have the same family. It's just a really entertaining episode that really shows what the "forgotten borough" is really like.



09. I Have Tourette's Syndrome (2006)

This episode is probably one of the hardest to watch, ever. It's so uncomfortable with 2 of the main characters, Lou & Alyssa, because their situations are so extreme and their lives are completely taken over by this disease. Lou is a comedian from New Jersey who still lives with his parents and he's a good guy who can't seem to catch a break because of his twitches, and Alyssa is the most extreme case out of the 3 people featured and she lashes out at those around her. It's hard to watch, but it's a very enlightening episode that shows all sides of this disease and what it affects and how it does.



08. I Own A Summer Share (2003)

One of the classics, this episode features Tommy "Cheeseballs" and his group of Jersey Shore people during the summer and all the shit they get involved with. Similar to the Staten Island Girl episode, this one is strictly entertainment, mostly because they're so stereotypical and some of the situations they get wrapped up in. There are some messages that get portrayed along the line, but let's face it, the episode wasn't made for that. Whether you like these people or not, it's still one of the best episodes to watch.




07. I'm Looking For My Mother (2008)

Definitely one of the saddest episodes to watch. There are two people featured in this episode, but the one that really matters is the girl pictured, Debra. She's about to be the first person from her family to graduate from college in Sacramento and wants to hunt down her homeless mother so she can come to her graduation. Unfortunately, it's not easy finding her and even when she does find her, her mother tries to run away from her. When Debra and her mom finally get the chance to bond, you see how much it means to Debra and it's heartbreaking to find out that Debra's mom lies to her about coming to the graduation, and she only contacts her daughter again later on just to ask for money.




06. I Stutter (2007)

Jess (pictured) is a beauty queen from upstate New York who has such a bad stutter that it deters her from winning more pageants then she does, and she struggles to overcome it and get used to it. Tim is a college student in West Virginia who risks getting evicted because he can't find a job because he stutters too much, and he's forced to eat food that's gone bad and he has to have other people do things for him, like using the phone because otherwise he'd get hung up on. Caryn is the one who stutters the least, but she hides it the most and she realizes she can't do that forever so she tries to get help for it. Surprisingly, it's actually Caryn's story that probably affects you the most, since even though she stutters the least (by far), she's the one who goes through the biggest journey of the episode.




And now we're down to the top 5... here are the top 5 episodes that will be competing (from newest to oldest)...
-- I'm An Alcoholic (2008)
-- I'm Supporting My Family (2007)
-- I'm Dead Broke (2005)
-- I Live A Double Life (2004)
-- I'm An Urban Cheerleader (2002)