The thread on the violent movies and the influence of them on society got me to thinking about tv. To be honest, I watch very, very little network tv. We have cable with 13 channels. The only shows I watched last season were Lost and BattleStar Galactica. I’ve never seen a Sopranos, Survivor or American Idol. I guess that puts me in the minority. It makes me wonder how much Slowtwitchers watch. I’ve always had the impression that this group is probably more educated than most. Frankly, I don’t miss tv at all. I feel my time is better spent reading, training, and spending time with the kids.
I watch next to zero TV. Only show I watch is Lost, I used to watch the Stargate stuff and BSG for a little while but lost interest. I’ve also never seen many of the “popular” shows.
Almost every night the wife and I watch a little something, typically comedy channel, weekdays Daily Show, weekends some stand up. Usually max 30 minutes while we have Ice cream before we go to bed.
We’ll order a movie mabey 2-3 times a month and that’s about it.
My BIG vise is video games. I don’t want to talk about how much time I waste in that area.
~Matt
PS I’m discounting any time I’m spending watching Dora the Explorer or Elmo goes to Grouchland for the 800th time as that is not really by choice.
The watch The Office and 24, which means at least 37 hours a year. When you add in the random ballgame and NASCAR race, it probably totals out to only 60 hours a year. I still hate to think that I spend more than 2 days a year wasting my valuable time in front of the TV. What’s really sad is that people spend that amount of time in a week!
Maybe two hours a week. I would watch “the office”, and sometimes I’ll watch meet the press, something like that. I watch more in the fall (football). NO cable or dish or anything here, just basic over the air TV on a 20 year old 19" Sylvania.
I don’t activiely watch a lot of tv. I am a House fan, that may be the only show that I know the schedule of. I don’t have premium cable channels, but I’ve been getting Six Feet Under on DVD, I sporatically watch it. I like Celebrity Fit Club (as my earlier thread illustrates) and I enjoy Top Chef as well. But I’m usually doing something else (like cleaning, folding/ironing laundry, etc) while those are on so they don’t get (or need) full attention. I have the tv on as I lay in bed, it puts me to sleep. I have it on a timer to shut itself off after about 30 min. I have the news on in the morning to listen to while I get ready for the day. I don’t see tv as a waste of time, especially since its mostly in the background while I do other things. Sometimes its nice to just relax and be entertained. My brain gets plenty of stimulation as is.
No cable, no satelite TV, no rabbit ears. If invited to friends’ houses, I enjoy watching some sports. I will admit though, I’m a bit of a netflix junkie… maybe two to four movies a month… since my TV/VCR has been with my for 15 years, I watch the DVDs on my laptop.
Rather than watching TV, I’d rather be reading, training, wandering about the outdoors or just watching the waves along the shore.
Not much. We only get TV via rabbit ears so our choices are limited. We do that on purpose because if we were pating for cable/satellite we would feel we had to watch more to get our moneys worth. Mostly we watch the local news programs and some PBS. We did watch Dancing with the Stars because Ohno is kind of a local since he trained at the USOC Training Center here. But when watching I tend to multitask. I’m doing this and watching the local news. Other times I’ll read while the TV is on. Much of what is on network TV is garbage or just the same story line rehashed a million different ways. All the crime shows are essentially the same story every week. How can people watch those shows for years? Sitcoms are all the same too - only the characters change. Even shows like Nova and Nature are kind of repetitive. I watch more in the winter when I’m inside more, but not very much.
Funny how most responses put in a jab at those who do watch TV. Change the subject line to “How much do you surf the internet/post on ST?”
I multitask if the TV is on. I can’t think of the last time I actually just watched TV (unless it was watching the season finale of The Office, but that was on the laptop and I was on the plane.)
Count me in for reality TV–American Idol, The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, Workout, Project Runway. Sitcoms and network dramas? Not so much. The Office is pretty much the only one I watch regularly. Probably good that I don’t have HBO or Showtime since Weed and Entourage look pretty good.
I grew up not watching too much TV, and earlier this year I got satellite TV for the first time. Up until now just bunny ears, and the only reason I took the plunge is because I get no reception on bunny ears in my new place. I do watch a bit every day, no more than before satellite though. To be honest, most TV bores me, but I do like “So You Think You Can Dance” (yes I am a straight male) and a few cartoons that come on YTV (yes, I am really 36). Robotboy and Ruby Gloom are awesome. I don’t get Cartoon Network on my current package, I might switch so I can get the Adult Swim stuff, like Robot Chicken.
Oh Workout and Project Runway! I forgot those. I love both of those shows. I’m not sure why people feel some sort of moral superiority when it comes to television. Not watching TV does not make one a better person.
I pretty much make it a point to catch House and Boston Legal (nice since they are on the same night back to back). I like to catch scrubs when I can. It is usually on in the background. When I had cable Psych on USA, and just about anything on discovery and the history channel. I have never paid for cable (Lived in a couple apartments where it was free). I definately watch more TV when I have cable but I have never missed it when I dont have it. That being said the gf and I have been discussing getting it and we probably will. I had a good run 30 yrs without a single cable bill.
In reply to:I’m not sure why people feel some sort of moral superiority when it comes to television. Not watching TV does not make one a better person.
While I’m not claiming any moral superiority, I’d have to disagree with your statment… if you quantify how much tv is watched. I’m fairly certain studies show that as tv viewing goes higher in children, grades come down. Among adults, it might be a different story but I’d still imagine quality of health and life would decrease the more time is spent watching tv.
I really didn’t mean to turn this into a “tv is evil” thread, but…to your point. Both comic book reading and internet usage are interactive. Watching tv is not. My main point was simply it seems that the higher educated a person is or healthier lifestyle they engage in, the less tv they watch. Judging from the responses so far, it appears to hold true.
I used to be a stay-at-home dad and when I re-entered the work force, one of my co-workers remarked that it must have been nice to be able to watch tv all day. He was quite shocked when I told him the tv didn’t get turned on at all during the day.
My main point was simply it seems that the higher educated a person is or healthier lifestyle they engage in, the less tv they watch. Judging from the responses so far, it appears to hold true.
No offence, but that’s kind of a load of crap. Plenty of educated, healthy people watch tv. Comic book reading is interactive? You mean flipping pages? The internet can be a huge mindless waste of time. Just because a person likes “Dancing with the Stars” it doesn’t mean they are less educated or lazy. OK, their taste may be suspect, but thats completely subjective.
FYI, I allow my kid to watch tv as long as she has everything done that she is supposed to. She tests very highly academically, is learning 2 foreign languages, plays piano and is into sports. While I find Sponge Bob annoying, I don’t think he’s hurting her.
Short attention span linked to TV By Marilyn Elias, USA TODAY The more television infants and toddlers watch, the more likely they are to have trouble paying attention and concentrating during their early school years, a study reports Monday. (in other words, they won’t be as educated) The Impact of Television & Video Entertainment on Student Achievement
in Reading and Writing.
By Ron Kaufman
“When a child learns to read and write, he must access the schema
developed in his brain. As he reads, the child creates pictures in his
mind and uses imagination and points of reference to put the story
together. “Television images do not go through a complex symbolic
transformation. The mind does not have to decode and manipulate during
the television experience,” says Winn. “It may be that television-bred
children’s reduced opportunities to indulge in this ‘inner
picture-making’ accounts for the curious inability of so many children
today to adjust to nonvisual experiences.” Watching television (and
playing video games) does not develop a child’s skills in word
recognition, decoding, vocabulary, spelling or high-level thinking. And another article: The more television people watch, the less they exercise, says a U.S. study that used pedometers to record participants’ activity levels.
The study of 486 low-income housing residents in Boston found that each hour of television viewing was associated with 144 fewer steps walked per day. Overall, the study volunteers watched an average of 3.6 hours a day of television, which works out to 519 fewer steps per day.
Let me reiterate, I was talking about the AMOUNT of TV. Not the act of watching it.