TV -- Do We Watch Too Much....?

[DaisyFace]

A number of things have got me thinking about television lately...

First was Suz's thread in Watercooler.

And then I had to sign up for service at my new place. I called the provider and tried to sign up for their tv/internet/telephone package. The sales rep asked me what was most important to me in my television package.

"Low price" I answered.

She laughed. "No, no, no..." she said. "I mean, like, how many HD stations are you looking for?"

"None" I answered.

The rep then proceeded to explain that my HD television would work best with HD programming.

"Don't have one" I said.

Then she explained that she could save me money by helping me to choose a plan that would eliminate the all the fees I was paying to have television in every room. A volume discount, if you will. So, how many televisions did I need to hook up to the service?

"Two" I said "The living room and the master bedroom."

"That's it? Really? Are you sure?" she asked...evidently not quite understanding my answer.

Then she went on to explain that I really should sign up for more than the basic package because I was sure to miss the "Do It Yourself" channel and my husband would want his sports package and what about the children?

And that's when it occurred to me that Americans have really lost our sense of priority when it comes to television entertainment. I admit, I usually watch the television because it is ON - not because I have specifically chosen to watch a particular program. I turn it on FIRST, and then I choose a program.

No matter how many channels you have, the bulk of them are nothing but garbage that you would never pay to watch (and yet, you are paying...)

And I cannot escape the simple fact that when I watch a 'reality show'--I am watching other people live their lives while I do nothing with my own except sit on my sofa and eat.

I am thinking of cancelling my order for television....

So how about you? Who is the boss of your life? You? or the television?

 

[hearts and roses]

I only watch one or two dedicated hours of tv a week. And occasionally if I'm passing through and H is watching something interesting I may sit in for a bit. I really do not like tv because most everything is ****.

I feel like reality shows are too voyeuristic for me and, well, I find them sort of cheezy. I like DWTS, but not enough to watch it or keep track. I don't even know when it's on. I enjoyed the tryouts for AI, but once it's in full swing I can't be bothered. I hate the cattiness and sniping that goes on. I guess the bottom line is that I really don't care about other people's tv drama because I have so much of my own at home? lol.

And cop shows? They all seem alike to me, so it's difficult to choose one. I used to watch L&O SVU with difficult child, but it's not on my radar anymore. I like Bones - a lot - but I catch it on the fly, probably reruns, I don't even know.

Just not into tv. I'd rather read a good book or surf the net.

 

[Shari]

I watch very little tv. If I do, its Discovery channel or country music videos. I don't watch any regular shows. If I am home alone and cleaning, I will turn the tv on to a music station in both rooms and turn it up so I can hear it in the whole house. I'm I'm home alone and not cleaning, I'm dang sure not watching tv.
***
Wee regularly turns the tv OFF. It bothers him to build Lego's with background noise. We recently moved his Lego's to the "Lego Lair" in his room, and he loves it. If husband is in the house, the tv is on, and I didn't realize how much friction there was between the 2 of them for that. Wee will watch a show or two and then turn it off and go to the Lego Lair. We branched the tv in our room off into his room as well (same station on both tv's) and now that the Lego's are out of the living room, he rarely turns his on anymore.
***
husband gets a minimum of 3 hours of screen time a day. I've seen that go up to 8 or 10 hours. He can not do ANYTHING until whatever is on his screen has a logical breaking point....family outings have had to wait to leave for 2 or 3 hours before until the show he turned on to watch while he ate his breakfast finished....God forbid we leave in the middle or just not turn it on the begin with.
***
easy child 1 turns it on all the time but sleeps to it. difficult child 1 was a tv addict, too, but is much better about it now.
***
Wee and I spent the evening last night with our Amish friends. This was on my mind, as well.

 

[DaisyFace]

Shari, Hearts--

It sounds like you are both like me...

The television is on on your home waaaaaayyyy more than you would like it to be...with some family members watching more than others. For my family, it's become a habit. Eat dinner then sit down and turn on the tv.

And lately, I'm questioning why we are doing that.

 

[Nancy]

I only watch a few programs, but the ones I watch I enjoy for whatever reason. It's my only chance to sit down and relax. We do have a cable package with 200 channels but quite honestly I hardly ever watch anything on them. husband watches sports on some of them and even that is very rare.

I think a lot of the reality shows have gotten out of hand and I don't care to watch a bunch of young adults drinking the night away and sleeping with all the other house guests. I still love my DWTS and American Idol, Bachelor and sometimes Survivor. I enjoy watching the Discovery Channel, History Channel and National Geographic.

Nancy

 

[Shari]

Yup, DF, it is. I hate that stupid idiot box. Its one thing to have a show you like to watch and watch it. husband likes a cast iron cooking show in RFDTV. Cool. He likes WWE (I Hate it), but he makes a point to watch that on Mondays. Cool. I can even deal with that. Its the rest of the time when it becomes a fill-in for finding other things to do, or an escape from things you should be doing, and you flip it on to "see what's there" and then are repeatedly, multiple times weekly, if not daily, a slave to whatever you find. "Oh, I was going to go mow the yard so you can hang out the laundry, but I can't mow the yard for 2 more hours because I want to finish this show I randomly found because I could eat my bowl of cereal at the table in silence...that's just too much to ask."
Once in a while when something just strikes you? I get it. Every single flipping day? Well...you get my gist.

 

[AnnieO]

Here's an interesting thing...

When I was 14 I got grounded. Don't remember why, probably grades. No TV for a month unless someone else was watching, and then only if it was the news. Learned to live without.

Got a 9" b/w tv/radio when I graduated from high school. Barely used it. Actually stuck it in the closet. Did get into the X-Files - ever watch something spooky on a 9" b/w TV attached to a HUGE (old fashioned) VHS VCR? LOL! One hour a week.

Married XH, who loved NASCAR. Moved with him to OK and started watching Dawson's Creek, only because it reminded me of home (BFF & J (his now-XW)). Came back. Lived without TV for months, finally Mom & Dad got a new one for their BR so I had a 13". It died quickly, bought myself a 19" cheapie (it's still going strong, in the computer room now).

X-F and Difficult Child ended, I occasionally watched History or something I heard about. Usually only on for noise - and I have a radio and MP3 player for that.

BUT - I had five jillion channels through Time Warner and paid out the nose for them. Switched to AT&T (as of YESTERDAY!), and don't have as many channels. Onyxx and Jett are really upset. Me? I haven't even looked at the lineup. Don't care. If they continue to complain... The boobtube goes buhbye. Grr.

I can watch whatever I want on Hulu and YouTube. Mostly not interested.

...I have never seen a single piece of s Survivor or DWTS episode, and only about 5 min of AI. I figure - this isn't reality - not for me, not for most. I have an idea for a reality show. Stick 8 adults in a house with 8 of our difficult children. Let's see how fast they JUMP ship rather than get voted off.

 

[DammitJanet]

Well I am one of the addicts.

My TV is on pretty much constantly except for the fact that it automatically goes off at 3am and by then Im asleep. As soon as I wake up, on it goes again.

If I get up early enough, I start with Dr Phil, then Ellen, then I start with the Judge shows. That takes me through most of the daytime hours. Then I start with Prime Time News, HLN, Issues with JVM, then I start with whatever goes on with the main shows on at 8 pm. I could be DWTS's, AI, Bones, sometimes Nancy Grace, sometimes a rerun on another channel, sometimes something on ID, TRU, or ION. I adore all the Law and Orders, CSI's, NCIS's, Criminal Mind, Mentalist. I loved Celebrity Rehab and Sober House. I like Dog the Bounty Hunter. I like Army Wives and In Plain Sight.

Oh and I liked Miami Medical and Trauma. And Parenthood. Not to mention all the football and NASCAR racing I watch!

 

[Suz]

I've always loved tv and always will.

Suz

 

[DaisyFace]

I have an idea for a reality show. Stick 8 adults in a house with 8 of our difficult children. Let's see how fast they JUMP ship rather than get voted off.

Step--

Now THAT sounds like something I would watch! Maybe you should pitch that idea to the networks?

Eight adults and eight "difficult" teens (or ten or twelve--the more chaos the better)....parent-child maybe. Nobody gets voted off....BUT parents get the option to leave without their kid. Only one parent can leave per night (that oughtta be some interesting negotiations "I'm going home! No you're not--I am!")...the teen stays behind with the other teens and the remaining parents. Last parent standing wins.

Although the winner of such a show will probably have to spend their wiinings on therapy...

 

[DaisyFace]

Suz, Janet--

I'll bet there are a lot more people that love television, but don't like to admit it....

 

[DammitJanet]

Its on behind me right now and Im waiting for Judge Joe Brown to make his ruling so Peoples Court can come on...lol.

I can tell you pretty much the line up for all channels...well the normal ones. I get lost when you go into some of the hunting and fishing channels but then Tony can probably tell you those!

 

[Shari]

Sorry Suz and Janet. lol

To each their own. I'm just assuming you don't starve or go naked in order to watch your box. lol (I don't really have an issue with the tv as much as I do its use as an escape from whatever else one should be doing...)

And I have my vice with it. If someone is channel surfing and finds the Die Hard movies...I can very easily park my butt in front of them. I love those movies!

 

[Suz]

No offense taken, Shari.

I'm not embarrassed to admit it. As a kid, I was totally hooked on the old black and white movies from the 30's and 40's so my Mom had to pry me away. There were only 3 stations then so tv watching was a privilege, that's for sure.

It has played a greater or lesser role in my adult life depending upon what else is going on. As an adult single woman I had it on for company. As a young mother, it was hardly ever on because I was so busy chasing Rob around the playground or yard. Now that I am single again, it's on again.

There's no question that there's a lot of junk out there but there's also a lot of really good stuff. I got the courage to paint a room and to even paint it a color other than white, and hang a curtain, and try a new furniture layout partly from the HGTV shows I've watched. I've learned a ton about my fuzzbutts from watching Animal Planet.

The best part is that I am my own censor and I own the remote so I can watch whatever I dang well please these days.

Suz

 

[Shari]

I admit, if I actually had time to myself and no one else around that had it on all the time, there's a good chance I would watch more than I do.

I just find it ironic that we didn't get satellite because of difficult child 1 (we'd never have gotten him out of the house), and, well....it impedes our ability to get out of the house! lol At least as a family.

If it was just me, I'm sure it would be different.

 

[busywend]

I love TV, too! And I am not ashamed to admit it. To each his own and everyone is different.

The number of channels is a bit out of control these days, but whatever sells, right? I appreciate the options when I go channel surfing! LOL!

I usually get things done around the house and then sit down for the night. Most nights by 8:00 I am parked right in front of the TV.

 

[CrazyinVA]

My TV is usually on if I'm home. I'm not always paying attention to it, though .. I'm likely on the internet, fixing something to eat, cleaning, texting, etc. etc. As I mentioned in the other thread, there are only a handful of "must watch" shows for me. I'm a huge channel surfer, I get bored with shows easily, even more so with commercials. The older I get, the harder I find it sit and watch anything at home for any length of time any more; it's like I've developed ADD in my "old age." I'd rather be out doing something, to be honest, and I do that a lot.. some weeks I'm out 3-4 nights. When I am home watching, though, I do LOVE my HDTV .. I can't live without one now. I especially love it for watching FOOTBALL

I only have one TV in my place, which shocked the cable people recently when I moved. I do have an extra TV, but have not hooked it up in the master bedroom. It was a gradual process .. years ago switched from cable to antennae in the MBR, when the apartment I moved to had no cable hookup in the bedroom. I got used to just watching the network shows in there. Then, when everything went digital, I never got around to getting a converter box, so I lost TV in the bedroom all together. I found I didn't miss it much; I listen to the radio(NPR) in the mornings when getting ready, and read at night before bevd. When I recently moved, I do have a cable hookup in the MBR again, but, didn't see the point of paying for an extra cable box to go in there. So, I'm still a one-TV household. (soon to change for awhile when Youngest stays with me for a few weeks.. but that's a story for another thread).

 

[DammitJanet]

I have 4 TV's at the moment because Cory is here. Only three of them actually have satellite hooked up to them with the boxes so you can change channels. Cory's tv gets whatever is on in the living room. We just spliced into it. Works because I really dont watch too much in the daytime out in the living room and after 10pm we are in my bedroom. They can have whatever they want. Plus if they arent here I can watch whatever. Works so far.

 

[muttmeister]

I think I WATCH very little TV but I have 5 in my house and I pay way more than I should for satellite TV; of course, I live in a rural area and cable is not available so if I did not have satellite I would get one channel (Fox) when the weather was right.

I turn my TV on when I get up in the morning and watch the morning news to see if all of the world is still here. Then I leave it on through Regis and The View and go and watch if something sounds interesting although I don't just sit there and watch. After that it goes off until Jeopardy at 4:30. While I watch the 5 o'clock local news from 100 miles east and the 5:30 network news and the 6 o'clock local news from 75 miles west I am also doing the puzzles in my daily paper (Sudoku, Jumble, Cryptoquote, and two crosswords. At night I watch what I consider very little (1 hour on Monday, 2 hours on Tuesday, none on Wednesday, 3 hours on Thursday, and none on Friday or Saturday (unless there is something really special that I want to see). I do watch PBS Mystery on Sunday when it is on.

Is that a little or a lot? I think maybe it's relative. My mother is 95 and has her TV on from morning till bedtime but I don't think she's really WATCHING; it's just a human voice in the room with her. Don't think there is anything wrong with that.

I would probably watch more if there were something on I wanted to watch but most shows are such drivel that I go crazy trying to watch. Every time I do find something interesting they take it off. I don't care which bachelor picks which airhead (they all need to get a life first; then maybe they'd be interesting enough that somebody would want them without having to put themselves up for sale on TV), which crazy person appears before which judge (I have enough nuts in my own life without watching them on TV), which overpaid celebrity is doing whatever with which other of the same, etc.

Thank God for my books and my library.

 

[Nancy]

And I've learned more than I cared to learn from watching Doctors. Just wish I knew some of that when I was younger lol.

Nancy