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Anyone else trying to watch less and less TV?

posted 5 years ago by AngularTurnip (3333)
18 replies | jump to latest

It recently occurred to me that TV has not produced anything of enduring value. People like to say some TV is good. Bullocks. No TV is good. TV has never been good. It was bad sixty years ago. It's bad today. It will always be bad.

I used to read a lot -- fiction mostly -- and while some people would say fiction is a waste of time at least reading fiction engages the imagination a hell of a lot more than TV ever will. Music too. Music and books are a great way to exercise that muscle we call the imagination. Unlike TV and movies music and books refrain from visualizing things that are best left to the imagination.

Anyone else weaning themselves off of TV?

[–] GlenEllyn (21078) 5 years ago

I'm not sure if I'm "trying" to watch less TV. I don't have cable or over-the-air TV. I do have Netflix, but the only other watching I do is DVDs from my local library. I don't see myself ever going back to traditional TV or cable. I get my news and weather online from various sources.

Every once in a while I sort of miss regular TV, but then I remember the plethora of commercials and I realize I'm just fine without it. Ten years ago my long-time job was off-shored to India, so for financial reasons I canceled cable, although I still had over-the-air for a while. But five years ago I moved away from the big city and it would take $$ to erect an antenna high enough to receive it. I decided it wasn't worth the money.

In my book, TV went down the drain when so-called reality TV took over. I have no desire to watch any of it. The few things that do pique my interest generally end up on DVD eventually, so I see no need for regular TV. PBS is the only network that interests me.

[–] AngularTurnip (3333) 5 years ago

In my opinion, TV went down the drain long before reality TV. But, reality TV didn't help it none that's for sure.

PBS, and some other networks, I avail myself to occasionally for info.

Its exorbitant cost, even more so than its content, is a good reason to cancel cable.

[–] GlenEllyn (21078) 5 years ago

I'll give you that - it went downhill before reality TV, but in my opinion, that was the death knell.

I'm old enough that I remember having cable when there weren't any commercials. Granted, there weren't nearly as many channels as there are now, but it was great watching old movies without them. Of course, the price of cable was more reasonable then. Today, it's ridiculous.

[–] AngularTurnip (3333) 5 years ago

Forget old movies. Today's idea of an old movie is something made in 2000.

The only time I see anything in black and white on cable is when SyFy does their "Twilight Zone" marathon or when NBC airs "It's a Wonderful Life" around X-Mas.

TV today is aimed strictly at millennials. Everyone else can fuck off!

[–] Daddyo (289) 5 years ago

A friend of mine will not watch a show without a script!

[–] actionkamen (23176) 5 years ago

I've stopped watching tv since early 2000. When DVD's getting popular, tv is practically dead to me.

[–] bohemianroxie (2471) 5 years ago

When you say TV do I presume you mean any tv or the habit of sitting in front of the idiot box and watching one thing after another?
I haven't done the latter since I was a kid and I have gone through several spells of watching nothing at all...but typically now I do watch specific programs after they air. And I'm a bit of a snob about network tv and barely give it credence.

Unless I'm bingeing something (I just finished The Last Kingdom) I probably only watch 1 or 2 shows a week. That's 2 hours. And I prefer things that make me think.
Films are not so good these days (to me) and lack creativity, overall, so I'm picky about those too.
I've always been a reader.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I'm not a TV watching kind of person anymore. The TV is often on in my house and I glance at it from time to time, but I'm usually doing other things, like playing video games, which I guess you could say counts as it involves looking at a TV screen.

[–] tsrt (1091) 5 years ago

You no longer need it to stay informed.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I think Network TV is bad and dying. Otherwise I think it is the Golden Era for television.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Most TV in general is pure shit, Things like Big Brother, Kardashians Love Island etc. It's all a load of bollocks. Too many channels now and they fill the schedules with all sorts of it. Don't get me wrong though there's been some truly great shows over the years but they're few and far between.

[–] slimone (7996) 5 years ago

I dropped my cable subscription years ago. Now I only watch DVDs of my favorite shows like Law & Order, NCIS, Big Bang Theory, and movies.