One of those questions people like to ask when they're bored (or drunk or high) is what you would take with you to a deserted island. The obvious answer is: a boat. But if you can't take a boat or radio or something to get off the stupid island, you're supposed to figure out what the essential things in life are. I think if I were answering truthfully, if I could pick just a couple of luxury items to bring with me, I'd want a bed to sleep on, some pens, and maybe some paper or something to write on. (I'd say my netbook, but after 8-10 hours when the charge goes out of the battery, then what do I do?) I might not even use the pen/paper to write stories (because who would read them) but I might keep a journal so if I do get rescued I can make millions from my journal of the ordeal.
Anyway, the point is that most things in life are not really essential. I found out TV especially is nonessential. Like a lot of people I used to watch TV all the time. Then in the late '90s when I started going to college, I got out of the habit because I had a full load of classes (many of them at night) and a part-time job, so there wasn't time for a lot of TV. Shows like "Seinfeld," "Friends," and "Home Improvement" I might have used to watch I just about went cold turkey on. And guess what? I survived!
Once I graduated college and got a "real" job, I moved into my first apartment. It didn't have cable and I didn't really have money for a dish or anything like that. So I just had to rely on the old rabbit ears, which limited me to like six channels. Even then I still didn't watch a lot of prime time TV because I would write or read or stuff like that. And guess what? I survived!
Eventually I got another "real" job and moved to a different apartment with cable. Mostly like today I would just watch sports or movies. Though one show I liked after it premiered was "Pardon the Interruption" on ESPN. Since I wasn't usually home by 5:30 I started to tape it--back when VCRs still existed. But at some point, like when my VCR died, I stopped taping it. Which by then I think I was doing it more out of habit than because I really cared. So I stopped watching for the most part (unless I was home by 5:30). And guess what? I survived!
About the only shows now I remember to watch consistently are The Simpsons and Family Guy on Fox. But this last spring even that was threatened! I read the description of one Simpsons episode where Selma gets married (again) to some rich guy (again) and I said to myself, "I don't HAVE to watch this. I can do something else." So I did something else. And guess what? I survived!
About that time I stopped watching "South Park." I hadn't really liked it consistently since about 2004. I was still watching it On Demand but most episodes felt meh to me. The end of the first half of the 15th season actually felt like a good ending to me for the series. The new half-season has been going for like three weeks and I haven't watched a single episode. And guess what? I survived!
Maybe you're starting to get the point. There are no essential TV shows. Probably the same for movies or even (gasp!) books. Most of these are just for entertainment; they aren't really going to teach you anything important about life. Unless maybe you're watching one of those "Man vs. Wild" shows that teaches you how to harness and eat your own shit or something like that. That's really essential if you get stranded on a desert island! Instead of watching TV or a movie or reading a book you can do something else. Even if it's staring at a wall it's still passing the hours, and that's what entertainment is for primarily.
So while some people HAVE to see "Terra Nova" or "The Walking Dead" or whatever the hot shows are (I see you, Offutt!), I don't really feel like I HAVE to do anything because in the end while not all shows are created equal, it's still just passing the hours to me. If I'm watching "Terra Nova" or "Star Trek the Animated Series" what's the big difference? Either way I kill some time.
I should mention too this doesn't just happen with TV. It happens with websites too. Like how I used to read Tuesday Morning Quarterback on ESPN every Tuesday. Eventually though it seemed to be pretty much the same stuff over and over again, so I got bored and stopped reading. Once the Sports Guy moved from ESPN to "Grantland" I stopped reading him too. Which was a long time coming because I don't give a shit about the Red Sox or the NBA so 90% of what he wrote about meant nothing to me. And you better watch out because it happens to blogs too! So make sure you keep those blogs interesting. [here's some kind of ominous music for you.]
Anyway, the point is that most things in life are not really essential. I found out TV especially is nonessential. Like a lot of people I used to watch TV all the time. Then in the late '90s when I started going to college, I got out of the habit because I had a full load of classes (many of them at night) and a part-time job, so there wasn't time for a lot of TV. Shows like "Seinfeld," "Friends," and "Home Improvement" I might have used to watch I just about went cold turkey on. And guess what? I survived!
Once I graduated college and got a "real" job, I moved into my first apartment. It didn't have cable and I didn't really have money for a dish or anything like that. So I just had to rely on the old rabbit ears, which limited me to like six channels. Even then I still didn't watch a lot of prime time TV because I would write or read or stuff like that. And guess what? I survived!
Eventually I got another "real" job and moved to a different apartment with cable. Mostly like today I would just watch sports or movies. Though one show I liked after it premiered was "Pardon the Interruption" on ESPN. Since I wasn't usually home by 5:30 I started to tape it--back when VCRs still existed. But at some point, like when my VCR died, I stopped taping it. Which by then I think I was doing it more out of habit than because I really cared. So I stopped watching for the most part (unless I was home by 5:30). And guess what? I survived!
About the only shows now I remember to watch consistently are The Simpsons and Family Guy on Fox. But this last spring even that was threatened! I read the description of one Simpsons episode where Selma gets married (again) to some rich guy (again) and I said to myself, "I don't HAVE to watch this. I can do something else." So I did something else. And guess what? I survived!
About that time I stopped watching "South Park." I hadn't really liked it consistently since about 2004. I was still watching it On Demand but most episodes felt meh to me. The end of the first half of the 15th season actually felt like a good ending to me for the series. The new half-season has been going for like three weeks and I haven't watched a single episode. And guess what? I survived!
Maybe you're starting to get the point. There are no essential TV shows. Probably the same for movies or even (gasp!) books. Most of these are just for entertainment; they aren't really going to teach you anything important about life. Unless maybe you're watching one of those "Man vs. Wild" shows that teaches you how to harness and eat your own shit or something like that. That's really essential if you get stranded on a desert island! Instead of watching TV or a movie or reading a book you can do something else. Even if it's staring at a wall it's still passing the hours, and that's what entertainment is for primarily.
So while some people HAVE to see "Terra Nova" or "The Walking Dead" or whatever the hot shows are (I see you, Offutt!), I don't really feel like I HAVE to do anything because in the end while not all shows are created equal, it's still just passing the hours to me. If I'm watching "Terra Nova" or "Star Trek the Animated Series" what's the big difference? Either way I kill some time.
I should mention too this doesn't just happen with TV. It happens with websites too. Like how I used to read Tuesday Morning Quarterback on ESPN every Tuesday. Eventually though it seemed to be pretty much the same stuff over and over again, so I got bored and stopped reading. Once the Sports Guy moved from ESPN to "Grantland" I stopped reading him too. Which was a long time coming because I don't give a shit about the Red Sox or the NBA so 90% of what he wrote about meant nothing to me. And you better watch out because it happens to blogs too! So make sure you keep those blogs interesting. [here's some kind of ominous music for you.]
If I could get my blades our of my Gillette fusion I might slit my wrists right now.
ReplyDeleteTV is what it is. A good way to enjoy a few moments as you work your way toward death. I love Psych, Castle, and sports. My son loves The Walking Dead so we tend to watch that together, but that's really just finding something we can share, it isn't about the show.
The Walking Dead is the only show I watch live. The rest I catch later on DVR, Netflix, DVD, whatever.
So, I'll read a book instead, or write, or surf the internet, blog, instead. I tend to get a bit more out of those other things.
So, here's to TV. May it live forever.
I live alone. The t.v. is like a comfort to me on weekends when the noise of all that silence from reading books starts to get to me. Sure, I go to the coffee shops and get out, etc. But the t.v. is kinda nice to have on at night. So yeah...I watch it. It's a good companion.
ReplyDeleteAfter a rough day every day with three kids, I NEED Chelsea Lately. Inappropriate humor makes things better.
ReplyDeletePsych, Terra Nova, Castle, Community, Sanctuary, Eureka, Once Upon a Time, The Walking Dead.
ReplyDeleteIt's research...for my writing...
I'm sure everyone is buying that.
Your ringtone is "Everybody Hurts"? I think we need to do an intervention. Or a blogtervention.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I started reading "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" and I mentioned it to a friend of mine and he said "Yeah, I used to read that but it was always the same thing" and I couldn't imagine NOT reading it, but now I never read it.
I know what you mean about getting turned off of shows; when we had a blackout midway through a particularly inessential episode of "Family Guy," we never went back to watching it. I go in and out of shows all the time, and websites I used to read I never go back to, or I go back to occasionally, like "Josh Reads."
That's kind of the thing about my "Greatest Thing In The World EVER" posts: they're mostly things that I love for a few days and then wear out.
Some things are so awesome I never get tired of them: the good years of Seinfeld and The Simpsons, Jim Gaffigan, "Catch-22," and a few others.
But what you describe here is why I try to change things up from time to time and abandon old ideas or start new ones. I not only get tired of things other people do, I get tired of things I do.
I'm starting to ramble, I guess. I do that. Let me finish up by saying that I agree with Michael that TV is a companion; I almost always have a TV or radio or other noise on. I HATE silence and like to hear other people's voices.
I sort of hate "TV." Not that there aren't some shows that I like, but I hate the whole TV-thing that's happened. People come home from work or school and sit down in front of it, and that's it. The only thing. I think the TV is the Matrix.
ReplyDeleteWhere's your Monday post?
ReplyDeleteMonday's post is nonexistent. I spent basically 24 hours between Friday and Sunday finishing the story I was writing, which didn't leave any time for blog writing.
ReplyDeleteThat is weak. I'm under attack from people who are upset that I dared to call Alex's book gay. Fucking people.
ReplyDeleteYeah you really stepped on a pile of shit there.
ReplyDelete