For the past few months I’ve been living without TV. I packed my bags, headed up north and left my TV and precious stereo at home (mainly b/c I was too lazy to lug them around). I didn’t think I’d be able to live without ‘em, but my life has been infinitely better and less annoying. When I came home for winter break and was reunited with TV/radio, I almost puked. Oh my GAWD, how did I put up with this filth for so long? I’m being constantly bombarded with trash! If I see or hear about Jennifer Hopez and 90,000th fiance one more time, I’m going to die! All I’ve seen and heard is the same old crap over and over. If I see Justin frickin’ Timberlake, Britney Spears, Gay Z on TV again, I’m going to gouge my eyes out. If I turn on the radio one more time and hear the sounds of a bunch of well marketed but talentless schmucks, I’ll toss myself over a bridge. I tried to watch VH1 (foolishly) thinking I’d be seeing something good, and I saw Nelly. Nelly?! What in the HELL is Nelly doing on VH1? Arrrrgghh!!!
Aside from how the music industry is a big joke, everything else is craptacular too. These stupid sitcoms are a waste of 22 minutes! I tried to watch the George Lopez show the other day… What the fuck was that?! It was awful! I never cracked a smile once. The bad part is all of these shows are the same! They’re not funny, they’re not clever, they all suck! Even Jeopardy is becoming hoaky. They have all these stupid lights flashing around now. In the red?! Jesus H! I hate game shows. If I see one more show with a bunch of hacks who can never get the answers right, I’ll shoot myself. The only thing worth watching on TV anymore is The Simpsons. Gah!
TV sucks for the most part, but I do have to make you aware of the following shows:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (It’s Great), as well as Angel (also great). Both of these shows are about people trying to save the world, but with some soap opera stuffs going on (think a better batman).
Also, CSI. That show is one of the best on Television. William Peterson is simply great and makes the show fantastic. I can’t get into CSI miami, but that’s probably because of David Caruso.
Another thing to consider, the History Channel, and the Discovery Channel. Both are packed with good shows IMHO. From Foriensic Files, to R. Lee Ermeys Mail Call.
In closing, don’t give up on TV. There are a few shows that are worth watching…
What were you doing “up north” that kept you from watching TV or listening to the radio? Is it possible to do more of the same and not turn to TV or radio as a pass time?
Regular TV can suck… that’s why we have digital cable with a plethora of channels we actually like to watch like TLC, Discovery, Sports, and soon… SCREAM… because sometimes there’s just not enough horror in the day.
We also have the venerable CBC so I get to see “This Hour has 22 Minutes” and the “Royal Canadian Air Farce”.
I’ve lived without it since February 1993, and I don’t miss it one bit. As I am about to turn fourty, this represents 25% of my life.
After a few years you really don’t miss it at all*. I went through a stage where, like you, I told people what crap it was, but I’m way past that now. To me the whole television phenomenon has lost all relevance.
What television has become seems very strange to me now. The tastlessness of the shows and the news is unparalleled.
One funny thing I’ve noticed is worth sharing. At my workplace there is a television in a lunchroom. I often go there to be social with my fellow workers. The noon news is always on, and everybody talks to the television.
Example:
Anchorman: Today, Police caught the murderer…
Co-worker: They ought to string that guy up. Why that rotten…
Co-worker 2: That scum really pisses me off. If it was up to me, I’d…
Co-worker 3: I want to see that guy get shot by a firing squad. He …
It goes on like that, rising to a crescendo every time.
I feel like I’m witnessing the Two Minutes Hate from Orwell’s 1984. Strange!
*One month is enough, but five years, and you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.
A Stupid Wedding Story, A Boring Baby Story, then a couple of Cops rip-offs at night. Learning at its finest.
The How-They-Catch-Casino-Cheats Show, Bob Vila (yeah, we can’t “discover” home improvement shows on 30 other channels), and a special treat for primetime - two specials played back-to-back, three times in a row!
Where obscure college football teams with losing records battle it out to see, once-and-for-all, who is #184. Of course, every cable company is required to have no less than nine sports stations like this.
Way to go Forbin. It’ll be 4 years February for me (1999). I can’t believe that people actually devote so much as a microsecond of their lives to TV. But then again, I used to watch it, too. Its never too late though.
One thing I’ve noticed is the ubiquity of TV, its everywhere, even in restaurants. Can’t people turn it off and have a conversation? A lot of it just background. The company I work at thinks of itself as sophisticated and high class and actually has TVs in the reception rooms. Talk about your lowest common denominator crap.
I’ve been off the stuff for five years now. It really is an addiction. I still have trouble resisting when I’m at a friend’s house or something.
It’s all the most mindless drivel. I feel dirty every time I accidentally watch some television.
Mind you, I do own lots of DVDs, so I still get plenty of entertainment out of the tube. But it’s on MY terms and free of Jennifer Lopez and Survivor Borneo or whatever.
Once, at the beginning of a semester, I (along with a hundred other students) sat in a lecture hall with fear and trepidation surging through our very beings. We had to sit up straight just to raise our eye levels above the stack of newly acquired text books and watch the professor pace around the podium and rattle off the rules of his class. Here is one thing he said, “Before you complain about the work load, go home and turn off your television for thirty days, you’ll be surprised how much time suddenly becomes available.”
Well, I took him up on this challenge and have to say he was correct. In fact, I never bothered to turn the damn thing back on ever again. It’s been about ten years now and I don’t miss it at all.
My main problem with the History Channel is the way that they always ruin a perfectly good Egyptology special with “The Mummy’s Curse.” Every. Single. Time. I know they’re trying to appeal to the widest audience possible, but it it necessary to dumb it down that much?
When my cable company first started offering Animal Planet, I was delighted. I love nature films. However, a visitor from another planet tuning in might think the only wildlife on this planet are lions, aligators, snakes, lions, wolves, sharks, lions apes, and lions.
TLC is just plain sad. Every time I flip though it, I think of Lisa’s sick day, when Marge said she shouldn’t watch the Learning Channel, she should take it easy. To which Lisa replied, “But I’m hardly learning at all!”
The Discovery Civilization Channel is somewhat interesting, but I’ve already seen all of their shows. Over and over, and over. Their Great Books series is good, but there are more than five Great Books.
I find myself sticking to PBS more and more. Their Jim Crow series was great, and from a sociology standpoint, Frontier House was wonderfully entertaining.
Except for Law and Order I never watch the networks. (And I refuse on general principles to view any of the L & O clones.) When did sitcoms become the lowest form of entertainment known to man? Did an epidemic wipe out the good writers, or did they see what was coming and take their own lives to avoid having to write this crap?
Nothing. I just remember the hassle I had to endure last year dragging a TV and a huge stereo equipped with speakers bigger than I am into my dorm room. Out of sheer laziness, I left all of that nonsense at home.
So instead of 20 channels of filth, I can have 90,000 and have to pay for the filth? No thanks.
Hmm, this CSI business seems to be getting pretty decent reviews. Then again, this is coming from the same lot that recommends Buffy, 24, 8 Simple Rules and digital cable. I’ll watch CSI one of these days. It had better be good. But mind you, I’m a cranky old woman. I’m a tough audience.
People are always saying “What about XXXXX, it’s a good show” when I mention that I don’t l watch television. But if I have to search around for a single thing that doesn’t suck ass, it’s just not worth it. I can always find a good book to read.
You sound like me. betting you’ll find CSI as boring as I did.I feel your pain.
Every-and I mean every-tv (read major networks) weekly show has to fit into somebody’s idea of a demo pleaser.This means gratuitous sex references,lame jokes,and best of all-hot button topics being played out as if that show has any relevance to the real world.
These include comments from critics or fans like “breaks new ground”,“handles the-you name the topic-with dignity”.
Horseshit! Just a bunch of hacks putting a spin on today’s headlines in hopes to gather a timeshare.And sitcoms still use those freakin’laugh tracks.This is telling me “You don’t know when somethings funny so I’ll tell you”.Thanks for improving my humor IQ
If all you have is local coverage,see if you can sell the tv.I have dish,primarily because of TVG-but a bonus has been a second History and Discovery channel,ditto Bio,and DIY,so I can watch some of these at various times until I see the Burma campaign for the 2nd time.
Also have about 6 movie channels from Encore,and every now and then they have a movie I wouldn’t mind seeing again,and occasionally one I haven’t seen.
