No, seriously...
When I said I was selling my television, I wasn't kidding. I informed my cable provider that this month's payment would be my last. Part of the reason is the less-than-stellar internet service, which costs just as much now - if not more - than it did when cable internet became available about 6 years ago. But mostly it's the fact that the vast majority of television programming is a waste of time. I knew that, of course, even before I made my first new television purchase two years ago (I did buy a TV back in 1996 when I lived in Japan so I could watch game shows where half naked women did dishes, but that was special). My intention was to use the cable for movies, PBS, and BookTV, perhaps the occasional documentary. BookTV was cancelled a few months back, PBS is avilable without cable, and the movie selection, even with HBO, blows monkey cock. With all the movies available on any given day, I have watched Boogie Nights three times this month.
In the past month I found myself vegging out to a show on alien abductions, one on Nostradamus, and another on psychic spies, and that was the History Channel. And while you might think a TV is necessary for all the "comedy gold" it provides, I've seen enough to have plenty of jokes for years to come - it's not like TV actually changes, and besides, most jokes about popular TV shows of any decade become hack very quickly. If I were George Carlin and could be pretty sure I'd beat everyone else to the small screen with that material, I might reconsider, but even so, there's something depressing about the fact that so many people watch crap that even hack TV jokes always have some currency.
CNN and FOX and every other news channel have been nothing more than frantic, incoherent versions of The Weather Channel for the last six weeks, as if nothing else required our attention. From the time drunks hit Denny's to when Larry King wraps up, it's hurricanes. How about the weather in Fallujah?
Bomby. Back to you, Wolf.
Then there's the sheer cost. I remember when cable was new - the idea was that you'd pay a small fee to watch programming without commercials. Now we pay for the privelege of seeing more commercials than ever. My TV, internet, and Netflix charges add up to over $1600/year, money I now need for gas.
In the past month I found myself vegging out to a show on alien abductions, one on Nostradamus, and another on psychic spies, and that was the History Channel. And while you might think a TV is necessary for all the "comedy gold" it provides, I've seen enough to have plenty of jokes for years to come - it's not like TV actually changes, and besides, most jokes about popular TV shows of any decade become hack very quickly. If I were George Carlin and could be pretty sure I'd beat everyone else to the small screen with that material, I might reconsider, but even so, there's something depressing about the fact that so many people watch crap that even hack TV jokes always have some currency.
CNN and FOX and every other news channel have been nothing more than frantic, incoherent versions of The Weather Channel for the last six weeks, as if nothing else required our attention. From the time drunks hit Denny's to when Larry King wraps up, it's hurricanes. How about the weather in Fallujah?
Bomby. Back to you, Wolf.
Then there's the sheer cost. I remember when cable was new - the idea was that you'd pay a small fee to watch programming without commercials. Now we pay for the privelege of seeing more commercials than ever. My TV, internet, and Netflix charges add up to over $1600/year, money I now need for gas.
posted by Dan at 8:05 AM
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