# How Long Can You Live Without TV ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2001, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437 "2001-01-30T19:23:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2001, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/41 "2001-07-22T20:08:27Z")
**Iolagranola** - Thanks so much for the Onion link. The female version works with me. She cannot go a single day without mentioning that she doesn’t watch television, in that “oh-so-superior” tone. Reminds me of one of my favorite New Yorker cartoons. Two couples at a cocktail party, and one man says, “Oh, we don’t watch T.V. – we’re pseudo-intellectuals.” As for me, I **can** go for long stretches of time without television. I just prefer not to. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/42 "2001-07-22T23:55:55Z")
I go literally months at a time without watching TV. We do not have cable and crappy reception so the only thing we use the TV for is watching DVDs. The last time I watched television in my own home was in January for the inaugural. Otherwise the only time I watch TV is if I’m at a friend’s home and it is on or if I am travelling and stay in hotel. I hardly miss it at all. However, our local provider is soon to add Food TV so, combined with non-local news, we may finally go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2001, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/43 "2001-07-23T10:04:01Z")
I once went for about five years without a TV. Didn’t miss it at all. I still don’t watch much TV. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2001, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/44 "2001-07-23T14:00:39Z")
My husband is the TV watcher in our household - I’d rather surf and chat on line. However, when I’m sick enough to have to stay in bed, TV is my friend. Still, if it disappeared, I’d not be crushed much. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/45 "2001-07-23T14:54:47Z")
Um…I _SLEEP_ with the TV on. I have to have it for constant material. Plus, I can’t sleep alone, so it makes me feel like there’s someone there with me. But I figure that’ll change either if/when I get married, or when **Medea’s Child** comes around to my lustful advances. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2001, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/46 "2001-07-23T19:58:13Z")
I can’t even recall the last time I watched a regularly-scheduled show. I do, however, use it for a few video-editing projects, and watch a few DVDs on my computer, so I don’t know if I’m really “TV-free”. Like **RTFirefly,** however, I _definitely_ need internet access! The broader the band, the better! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2001, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/47 "2001-07-23T20:54:11Z")
Perhaps the OP should be reworded…how long _can_ you live with TV? My answer is, less then three minutes. I havn’t watched TV since I was 15, and I realized how much of my life I was busy wasting on its inane tripe. As I got older my hatred of the evil magic screen only grew. For one year I was forced to live in a TV house (TV house being a house in which the TV is always on). I almost beheaded everyone in it. I was in literal hell. The screen sucks you in, leaving a vacuum where there should be learning, coversation and human interaction. It leaves a void in your soul. For one year, I could not venture into my living room or kitchen without being assaulted by it. I will never live with a TV again. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2001, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/48 "2001-07-24T08:54:48Z")
Until my bank account runs dry… I work at a TV station, so if all of you non-TV watching people spawned, I’d have to go find a new job! ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2001, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/49 "2001-07-24T09:05:20Z")
Until my bank account runs dry… I work at a TV station, so if all of you non-TV watching people spawned, I’d have to go find a new job! And I don’t want to do that-- I _like_my job. ---
**Author:** ![Deiket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Deiket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deiket)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2001, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/50 "2001-07-24T13:56:07Z")
Longest I’ve gone is six weeks. Of course, about two weeks into that, I was forced to watch an episode of Dawson’s Creek, but I consider that more of a horrible, horrible, torture than watching TV. I’m a TV junkie, movies too. Though I DO prefer reading a good book… ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437/51 "2001-07-24T14:45:36Z")
We have a TV, but i very rarely watch it - I could easily do without it. I haven’t watched it for about a month. My computer, on the other hand, I would rather chew off my own hand than get rid of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-you-live-without-tv/52437.md?page=2)