I gave it up about 10 years ago, and have no regrets. I agree that there are some good shows, but the signal to noise ratio is too low.
Now and then I’ll find myself in front of a TV – say, in a customer waiting room. I’ll tell myself, “Hey - you have this prejudice that the quality of typical TV is low, but you’ve probably exaggerated that in your mind. Try to watch this show objectively.”
The usual conclusion is: “Right - my view was wrong. In fact, TV is much worse than I’d been thinking.”
Our TV broke a few years back and we haven’t replaced it.
One factor was our son, who would be so entraced by the tube that he would wet himself rather than miss a moment. He would also become far less of an amiable child that he usually is. For the sake of our sanity and our laundry bill, that alone was enough to keep the TV out.
But I’m not pure at heart. I surf the net, and work at a newspaper and read magazines, so I know who the Sopranos are. We have a TV in the newsroom, tuned usually to the news channels or sports if PA teams are playing.
But Xema put it right: the signal-to-noise ratio is way too high. There are good shows out there, but it’s easy to fall into the habit of turning it on just to see what’s there.
Now that our son’s older and beyond that stage, we’re seriously thinking of getting one. My wife and I miss sitting at home on my day off, when it’s night and the kids are in bed, and watching DVD movies.
I haven’t had my TV on since the Super Bowl. The local news is worse-than-awful. I fail to see how any self-respecting person could dream of appearing on a local newscast.
Broadcast TV is terrible, cable is too expensive. When I dropped it 4 years ago, I was paying $40/month for 57 channels of infomercials.
TV on the whole is just insulting.
I have the first 2 seasons of The Sopranos on DVD. The 3rd season probably won’t be released until after the 4th season begins. So now I am going to have to figure what to do. Looks like I will have to get cable later this summer. I hate the thought of a cable company getting any of my hard earned money, though.
I quit watching tv more than 20 years ago (except when visiting other people) and must say it has been a mixed blessing. The overwhelming majority of people I know watch it regularly and consider it a main topic of conversation. When asked what I thought about the last episode of say, Seinfeld or the Simpsons, I have tended to say “what” and get looks of amazement mixed with disgust.
I haven’t watched television regularly in … oh, probably three or four years now. No political protests or anything, just a lack of time and interest. I used to follow the WB superhero cartoons regularly, but got out of it when my free time evaporated.
The only stuff I see on a regular basis now are videotapes of Teletubbies (which my two-year-old watches just so he’ll eat his dinner). I occassionally catch the news, but that doesn’t really count. 
(Okay, I also saw the Oscars, but that’s not a show, is it?)
I have watched nothing other than The Simpsons and a few major sports events for about two years now. Like several others in this thread, I first figured out that I didn’t need it when our old set broke.
I’m no TV snob; I enjoy watching TV. But I realize I enjoy it enough that it takes too much time out of my life. So when I moved ten years ago, I intentionally did not get a cable hook-up. I live in an area with no broadcast TV, so I’ve eliminated the temptation to watch at home by making it impossible to do so.
I still watch videos and DVD’s. And I’ll watch TV at work or when I’m visiting someone else’s house. I’ll even go so far as to occasionally ask someone to tape a particular show for me. But for the most part I’ve gone cold turkey.
And for all of you that say TV is worthless, let’s drop the pretense shall we? If you’ve got an average cable hook-up, you’ve probably got over a hundred choices at any given moment. Some of those choices will be bad, but many are good. Some are even great; entertaining and informative. If you claim you can’t find anything good on, it’s because you’re not making the effort.
Not trying to do a hijack, but could people please list in their posts if they’re a sports fan or not? Little theory I have.
I’m also pretty much indifferent to television, in fact if it wasn’t for the news, I doubt I would ever get around to watching anything at all. On the other hand, the last two programs I watched with any regularity were Charmed and The Simpsons, so it can’t be that I have a problem with quality or variety ;).
I definitely spend a lot of time on the computer that I might be spending with TV if there was no internet. I went though a stage about five years ago when I became an avid radio listener (I was doing the occasional radio program at the time as well), and for a couple of years I didn’t watch TV at all, on principle. Now, if there’s something worthwhile on (like the history of popular music series that’s screening down under at the moment), I’ll watch it if I’m in the room.
To answer Asylum’s question, I’m a mad cricket fan, and usually prefer to drive around or walk around town listening to the games on the radio, rather than sitting and watching TV (although I won’t leave the room if there’s a game on :p).
I don’t really watch TV, I have one to play video games on, and watch DVD’s, but thats about it. There are 3 tv shows I watch however, Angel, Buffy, and Stargate SG-1. I just started to download all the episodes off IRC and watch them on my computer 
I do have basic cable, but only because it had to be turned on for my cable modem. And to answer Asylum, I’m an Atlanta Braves fan (baseball) but only watch the games on TV towards the end of the season when there is a close race, and the post-season if the Braves are in it.
Straightdope has already eaten all of my spare time…
I don’t watch TV anyways… I’m stuck in Chinese soap opera hell, and I dislike Cartoon Network (the only alternative). Besides, I have enough fun on the Internet… 
I don’t watch TV–not that I so much dislike it, but most of the programming just isn’t interesting to me. I stopped watching a lot of TV when I was able to read difficult books, and that’s all I did. Then I got the internet…and the rest is history.
I do watch movies, however. And I will watch TV with my SO or with my friends if they’re watching it, it’s just that my mind is usually somewhere else. Or I’m reading a book AND watching TV, because frankly, it takes the book to keep me entertained.
I don’t have a TV or the internet at home because neither is a very fulfilling use of my leisure time, not because I don’t enjoy them. It’s just that there are other fun things I get more out of (reading, playing chess, mountain biking), but require much more effort than web or channel surfing. If those options are there, I’ll take the easy way out, so I just got rid of them.
Anyway, I can always play on the Internet at work.
I think I know what your theory is.
I’m a sports fan, and I would guess that 80% of my time watching TV is related to watching professional sporting events. Specifically, I like watching basketball, baseball, and the hockey playoffs. And the Olympics, when it comes around.
Other than that I watch very little TV. If I remember to, I’ll watch The Family Guy and The Simpsons. I also watch Junkyard Wars when new episodes are on, and some other TLC stuff. TLC’s great.
My Dad loves TV and every now and then he’ll call and tell me about some interesting program. I always say “oh, I’ll go turn it on” and I never do. Invariably I am busy doing something else. I don’t mind TV, and I think a lot of shows are pretty fun, it’s just that I’m always busy.
I hate sports and love TV.
I lost interest in television when we got cable modem.
I never have watched much TV. When I was growing up, my parents kept the TV in a room in the basement. It was cold in the winter, and dark, dank, and mildewy in the summer. (The TV was also B&W until sometime after I went off to college in 1972.) Whether intentional or not (I’m gonna have to ask my parents about this now), this setup was remarkably effective at turning my sisters and me into occasional TV watchers at best.
When I was single, I only intermittently owned a TV, and even then it was a little 13" B&W. My wife brought a 13" color TV into the marriage, and we finally got a 19" TV about 2 years ago. But it lives in the sewing room, not the living room, and gathers dust most of the year. I mostly use it to watch football (hi Asylum), and I don’t think it’s been used for anything but watching movies on tape/DVD since the Super Bowl, except for some Maryland games during the NCAA tournament.
It’s not that there’s nothing good on TV, but there isn’t much good on TV. My wife and I are both avid readers, and of course I spend a lot of time on the boards. As old TV shows that I used to watch have been discontinued, I haven’t searched for new ones to take their place. I keep meaning to tune in to Six Feet Under, but if I’m thinking about something else when it comes on, which I usually am, then another week goes by and I haven’t seen it. Such is life.
Re cable:
There are two things here that I’d like to respond to. One is that if I don’t watch much TV to begin with, why should I pay $25-30 a month for the standard cable package?
Actually, we used to have cable: in Florence, SC, and Bristol, VA, cable was necessary just to pull in the network stations. As recently as 4 years ago in Bristol, the $25/month package had about 25 channels in it, not 100. And trust me, there were times during the day when there wasn’t a damned thing worth watching on any of them. (I was teaching back then, and my prime time for TV watching would have been weekday mornings in summer, before about 10am - if there had been anything to watch.)
Anyhow, there may not be nothing worthwhile on broadcast TV, but if you aren’t willing to plan ahead to be in front of the TV when one of the few good shows comes on, it’s close enough.
And I think cable is beside the point: if you have cable (excepting those who have it in order to get high-speed Web), then you were already a TV watcher. And if you’re not, then why should you pay for cable?
Dammit, I just posted a long essay about my TV habits and lost it because I wasn’t logged in. Mutter.
Okay, long story short. Ever since I was a kid I haven’t been that interested in TV. I’d spend hours playing with Lego or Star Wars figures, but never watched a single episode of The A-Team, Dukes of Hazzard, Six Million Dollar Man, Knight Rider, Buck Rogers, The Incredible Hulk, or Spider Man. I watched maybe three episodes each of Battlestar Galactica and The Hardy Boys, both of which I claimed to like. I don’t know why, but the actual act of sitting and watching TV bothered me - I always preferred something else instead (there are many reasons for this, not the least of which is that the TV was in the family room.)
I tend to watch one show at a time. That is, for long preiods, there’s usually only one show (sometimes two) that I regularly sat down for - Doctor Who, Star Trek TNG, The X-Files, and Buffy. The latter two I got tired of when they got stupid or dull and quit watching cold turkey. In both cases I found I didn’t miss them at all when I stopped watching them.
I don’t think I’m too good for TV or that it’s beneath me, it’s just not the way I prefer to waste time. I can spend many hours parked in front of the computer without a problem, but if I watch two hours of TV I literally get angry at myself. I don’t know why. I don’t really enjoy just passively sitting and watching a show, and I don’t find too many shows that engaging. There’s a few things that, if I happen to be in the room when they’re on and I watch I might enjoy them, but not enough that I’ll seek them out.
I know it bugs my wife that I don’t like to watch TV. She has no problem with it. She watches things, however, that I can’t stand to be in the same room with. She’ll watch “The Real World” marathons on MTV and I literally can’t bear to even overhear that crap. I hate the world enough already without that show to fuel it even more.
Whenever I go to visit my family I notice they have the TV on 24/7. Even if no one else is watchign it, it must be on and be on LOUD. My nephew, who is 13, is incapable of amusing himself and has zero imagination - all he does is watch TV (the only activity he can bear to do alone). When I visit with him he doesn’t want to talk or play games or anything, it’s always “Come watch this show with me!” This is interaction for him. There’s no quality control, either - if it’s on TV, it’s worth looking at. After such visits I find I just want to sit in a dark, quiet room.
Maybe I am a TV snob. I try not to be. But honestly I don’t see the appeal. When the wife is out of town I don’t turn the thing on. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have one at all, I think. I don’t know why the activity of watching tv makes me feel like I’m just throwing time away, but geeking around on the computer doesn’t, but that’s the way it is for me.
I live in Japan, where there are only 3 criteria for a TV programme {or any form of entertainment, come to that}:
1: It`s coloured
2: It moves
3: It makes a loud noise
Reminds me of a line from one of the Muppet movies, where the two curmudgeonly old guys are sitting in the day room of an old peoples home: "Nurse! Theres something wrong with the TV!" “What is it?” “It`s on!” I read a lot of books.
I also watch very, very little TV. Last show I watched regularly was 90210, and when that went off the air, I didn’t replace it. I may catch an episode of Unsolved Mysteries every couple months, or a cheesy Lifetime movie a month or so, but I much prefer books or the SDMB.
I haven’t watched broadcast TV apart from 9/11 in probably 5 years, apart from 90210 as mentioned above (my guilty pleasure at that time!). Haven’t seen any of the current “hit” TV shows at all, and no desire to change.
I grew up in a house where the TV was always on. First thing my folks do upon waking in the morning is start coffee and start up the TV – for the two of them there are 4 total! I don’t like a lot of noise, unless I’m cleaning and then I crank up the tunes to keep me going. When my husband and I married, we didn’t have cable for almost 2 years, then got it a few years back.
Our kids (age 2 and 5) watch Blue’s Clues and a few other things on Nick Jr. They also like Pokemon and we have lots of those tapes. Maybe 2 hours a day total of TV for them, and I would really like to cut that in half if possible.
Cable here is $33 for about 30 channels.
Oh, AFA sports – I enjoy playing many sports and am fairly athletic, though lazy. I absolutely despise watching sports, though, and would rather clean toilets with my bare hands than sit through a game on TV. I luckily married someone who feels the same.