no TV, got PC 
Well, I have no TV and no life, so what’s up with that? Actually, I have a TV, but no reception. God bless Netflix! I would love to have TV but I can’t afford cable right now. It’s been about 8 months now. I don’t think I’ve read more or listened to more music than before. I have always been an avid reader and an on again/off again listener of music.
The shows I miss the most are “Modern Marvels” on The History Channel, “Trading Spaces” on TLC and “Unwrapped” on Foodtv(?).
TV is nothing but a tool. Use it properly and it is very valuable. Stick a screwdriver in your eye, and you have made a mistake.
Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore.
I own a television.
It has a 13" color screen and it is hooked up to my VCR. I play rented movies through it sometimes.
No cable, no antenna, no rabbit ears, and therefore no signal pickup. I think once upon a time it had a remote, but I don’t have it now.
Haven’t been a TV watcher since approx. 1983. Well, OK, I’ve watched at friends’ houses. I’ve seen and enjoyed episodes of The Simpsons, Star Trek Voyager, Married With Children, and…uh… probably other things. Also, my parents have TV and when I visit they sometimes put a program on. I think they watch something that features Andy Griffith as an alzheimerishly spacy attorney (?), and there’s something called Touched By An Angel (bit on the glurgy side). Oh, and my cousin tapes episodes of Enterprise and sends them on VHS occasionally (cute, needs work).
I suppose if I could get cable TV for, let’s say, $5 month + 1¢ / viewing minute, no channel limits, I might go for it. Then again, maybe not.
I don’t own a tv. I waste time online instead.
I have a ratty-like aversion: my father leaves the television on 16 hours a day, at least, and I have grown to loathe it. My husband never bought one, and we haven’t gotten one since we married.
When we can afford a dvd player, we’re going to buy a used set and keep it in the closet.
When I was at school, I went without one, too. It just doesn’t interest me, and I do find the “I can’t go out for dinner/go to the movies/go shopping because (fill in the blank) program is on!” attitude mildly irritating.
I think it’s interesting that when I tell most people that I don’t have a tv, they tend to get very defensive, and start talking about how little it really matters to them. I don’t say it in a judgemental or self-righteous way, so I don’t understand why it’s such a sore point.
We watch it all the time. The only problem is that we rarely agree on what to watch, so one of us is watching, and the other one is sighing or talking over the program, trying to engage the other in conversation that is unwanted at the moment. Get a second tv you say? No chance. Our house is small and we’d have to put it in the bedroom. That’s not gonna happen because Hon needs dark and quiet to sleep. We just alternate between Changing Rooms and The Hitler…er…History Channel.
There have been three or four times in my life when I just didn’t bother getting or keeping a TV and it was fine. Longest period was probably for about 3 years. Even now, a TV for me is just a source of old movies, documentaries and something to watch videos on. I don’t much bother with anything else.
ROFL, Max.
1992 NFL Playoffs. Houston Oilers ahead of the Bills 38-3 at the half. And they lost the game.
My television croaked right at the end of the game (psychosomatic?) and that marked the end of my regular TV viewership and my time as a Pro Sports fan.
Half-Price Books became my substitute, and I read voraciously. At least until the Internet found my home.
About four years ago, a friend called to come meet him for a couple of beers after work. Turns out he knew my TV had croaked, and he was flush that year, so he’d bought me a new one. It’s a nice TV, and we plugged it in that night. Since I don’t have cable, the only station that comes in is the Home Shopping Channel, and being as I am all fixed up on the cubic zirconium front, I never watched it.
Until ~6 months ago, when I bought a DVD player. My nights became devoted to movies.
But by now I’ve culled the collections of the local video stores, and things have definitely slowed down in the movie watching arena.
While I’ve heard of these shows, I’ve never actually seen Seinfeldt (SP?), The Simpsons, Friends, etc.
I didn’t have cable for about a year in my old aparment. It wasn’t really by choice: the cable company disconnected the cable we weren’t paying for…it was like that when we moved in for almost a year and we never bothered calling them to ‘fix’ it. So then we only had a TV for movies, video games, and The Simpsons (Fox came in on the airwaves, a little fuzzy, but watchable). Then I got a new roommate who immidiately ordered a HUGE digital cable package which he installed in HIS room. So I got the basic channels in the living room while he had all the HBOs and special stuff in his room. I hated the situation because sometimes he would be watching the same show that I was watching in the living room in his own room alone, coming out during the commercial breaks to talk to me about the show! It was weird and kind of creepy. I have a TV now, but I work at night, so I miss all the prime time stuff…
Unless I am actually the one watching the tv, having it on drives me crazy. I personally watch tv once every 3 or 4 weeks, and probably wouldn’t miss it if it was gone. I’ve never bothered to buy my own tv, all of my roomates have owned their own. I do pay for cable, though, since when I do watch tv, it’ll be Muchmusic, Space, or Teletoon (all cable channels).
Who needs TV when you got college?
Seriously, though…
Back away from my PC right now. MINE!
You know, I’ve done it both ways. I’ve gone for very lengthy periods of time without any TV at all - at one point, I was working two jobs and was gone every day from 8 am to about midnight.
Then, there have been periods like now, when I have every other week off, with very little to do. I watch a LOT of TV these days - I at least have it on in the background most of the day.
And I don’t see one lifestyle as inherently morally superior to the other at all. They both meet my needs at that particular time.
Didn’t watch any TV while at college, 1980-85.
Once it was off, I didn’t know what I was missing, so I didn’t miss it.
Resumed TV habit in 1985, but with a “take it or leave it” perspective.
I will say this: my social life was much better when I didn’t have TV to rely on for company and entertainment. If bored, go out.
Being new to the boards, I know hijacking is frowned upon so I’ll open a new thread but did want to comment before moving this topic.
Ratty, as far as TV is concerned I grew up in an environment very similar to your own. I now have mixed feelings towards TV. I absolutely abhor the TV playing non-stop all day long…offending my auditory environment as it tempts to lull me into passivity and lethargy. However, given TV in small amounts, I’m able to find enjoyment in a few shows (I mean…who wouldn’t find the antics of those Survivor characters exciting? Or the Simpsons, Or Seinfeld…). But on and on and on…uhhhhhhh!
The simple solution would be to just turn the damn thing off, but my SO is very comforted by the background sound of TV and is one of those who comes home exhausted after work and uses TV as a way to unwind. In reading this thread (as he may since he is also a member), he would probably think, “??? You watch TV just as much as I do.” In the past I’ve expressed my dislike for TV but after coming to what I felt was a compromise of limiting viewing, we always seem to go back to the TV on non-stop. I don’t know if I’ve just given up on the whole issue as in “choosing my battles” or have actually succumbed, myself, to the addiction that TV can provide. Either way, I would so much prefer it to stop. My question to all of you…or those of you with similar situations…what compromises have you arrived at that meet both of your viewing desires?
So as not to hijack this thread, I’ve moved this thread over to “SO loves TV on ALL the time, I do not…what to do?” for anyone who would like to respond.
To those of you interested, here’s the link for the aforementioned thread:
[EMAIL=http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=170895]SO loves TV on ALL the time, I do not…what to do?
To be a newbie, with newbie issues…:smack:
I apologize for linking the thread incorrectly. Here is the correct link:
Dammit, Max Torque you beat me to the Onion reference!
Going without TV isn’t some big noble thing. As mentioned above, it’s a tool, and hopefully not a crutch. Myself, I just don’t really like it, or especially the default setting for watching it; currently, I’ve had a set for watching videos, but no reception, for about 3 years. I’ve actually had TV less than not. Mainly the year I was 10, and from the time I was 14 until I was 20, then for a brief period due to roommates with cable. So, 1/3 of my life has been spent with TV reception, and another 4 years with video but no reception. Instead, I just waste time at SDMB.
I have a TV. I mainly watch the news and docos. I am not addicted. I also read newspapers and surf the Web. TV isn’t bad, it’s only bad when you are addicted.