The TV Trap
As fall approaches, all of the major networks are gearing up for their big season premiers. I must admit, I have been getting excited for my favorite shows to start up again. Then I started thinking about all of the hours I spend in front of the television every night. This summer I watched very little TV (maybe an hour a day). I would listen to the radio while I cooked and ate supper, go for walks and bike rides, make phone calls, clean, read, spend time with friends and family, and actually get to bed at a decent time. I hate feeling like a slave to the TV. If I know I have to miss a show I try to tape it and somehow watch it later. Then there is the dilemma of two shows being on at the same time that I want to watch. It can get pretty ridiculous if I let it. Granted, it's not like I plan my life around what's on TV, but it sure is freeing in the summer when nothing is on. What would I really be missing if I turned the TV off? Are these shows educating me or somehow enhancing my life? Usually not. Just think how much more we would get done if we didn't spend so much time in front of the television.
posted by Jules @ 5:33 PM
2 Comments:
At September 15, 2005 6:31 AM,
Amy said…
One of the things I most wanted to change about the home I grew up in vs. the home I would form with Steve was the place of the TV. Growing up, it was ALWAYS on, even if no one happened to be watching anything at the time. It was too easy to sit down in the living room and get sucked into whatever show, and end up sitting there for the next two hours. And I think in a sense it had the effect of stifling meaningful conversation and interaction.
When I went to college, I was too cheap to pay for cable, so I never had TV even available--and surprisingly, I found I didn't even miss it. I think if you just quit cold turkey, your life fills up with other things and you forget about those shows that seemed so important. They just kind of fade into the background--like once in a while I'd think, "Man, I miss watching Friends, I wonder what they're up to this season. Oh well, time to go to such-and-such." And that would be the end of it.
Not that I think all TV watching is inherently wrong. Steve and I watch occasionally (mostly football, or The Today Show for me while I'm working out/doing dishes in the morning). Just some food for thought. If you cut it down to only your favorite couple of shows, and only turned on the TV for those, I bet pretty soon you'd wonder why or how you had so much time to spend watching the boob tube :)
At September 15, 2005 12:49 PM,
Anonymous said…
Yeah, we don't really watch tv any more either...but I think that is because we only get PBS...gag. I don't miss it too much either, but it stinks when I am at someone else's house and I get to see a show I like and then I have to go home and...nothing...blah. But it's better that we don't have it...we aren't tempted by the evil spirits of hollywood...;)
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