Turn Off the TV

ever since I have the internet in the house, I barely watch TV anymore at all. I'm proud of myself for my healthy lifestyle change....

Seriously though, NOT watch the Sopranos for just one week 'cause everyone else is doing it? Do you have any idea how much of my time I've devoted to making sure I've seen every episode of that show in the correct order? Skipping one would be like, like, like undoing a whole bunch of stuff that shouldn't be undone. Inconceivable. Nope, I'm getting my fix this Sunday...

tv and advertising gets blamed for everything. people just want an easy target so they dont have to realise it all their own fault.

but i disagree with tv turnoff week for the same reason i disagree with valentines day - why should you need a national/international week or day to decide to do these things. you should just do them yourself. if you're just doing it for one week, surely its likely you dont really believe in it, and you'll just go back to the same habits once its over.... people should be motivated enough to find other things to do, and if they really wanted to not watch tv, theyd do those other things.

[QUOTE=Kit!]tv and advertising gets blamed for everything. people just want an easy target so they dont have to realise it all their own fault.

but i disagree with tv turnoff week for the same reason i disagree with valentines day - why should you need a national/international week or day to decide to do these things. you should just do them yourself. if you're just doing it for one week, surely its likely you dont really believe in it, and you'll just go back to the same habits once its over.... people should be motivated enough to find other things to do, and if they really wanted to not watch tv, theyd do those other things.[/QUOTE]

You are right, Kit. People SHOULD be motivated enough to do it on their own, but they aren't. I don't see anything wrong with giving people motivation. Isn't it better than nothing that people stop watching TV as part of a collective then not stopping at all? People psychologically respond better to groups, it's human nature. And it only takes 7-11 repetitions to form a habit, so if you don't watch TV for 7 days it could potentially form a habit. You could find yourself WANTING to go for that hike rather than catching the latest reality crap.

I think it is just knee-jerk individualism to dismiss an effort to improve things.

Sorry, Connor's making his return to [I]Angel[/I] on Wednesday and it's the 5th last episode ever to boot.

Pick a week in Summer, however, and I'm down.

Man, you people SUCK. Maybe I should swear off the internet.

Well I'm with you, lady. I don't watch much on TV, either, so it's off most nights anyway. However, I can't promise I won't turn it on at some point to watch a movie.

[QUOTE=alene] And it only takes 7-11 repetitions to form a habit, so if you don't watch TV for 7 days it could potentially form a habit.[/QUOTE]

hey thats interesting.. where did you read that?

[QUOTE=alene] I think it is just knee-jerk individualism to dismiss an effort to improve things.[/QUOTE]

i'm not dismissing it completely, its a noble idea but i just wonder how effective it really is. it takes a lot for people to change their mindset and habits.

Nfl Draft on Saturday can't do it. Why not just give up soda, fast food and fatty foods. Skip the middle man.

Plus the NBA playoffs are on the only games I can watch on Sat and Sun, I gots to work the rest of the week, And because the radio doesn't get ESPN radio I can'ts listen to them.

So you are asking me to give up two things that only happen once a year. I don't think so.

i havent watched tv for about two years
maybe half a movie here and there when my family wants to watch while were eating dinner, but thats it

the only thing really that catches my ever so important attention is the simpsons, seinfeld, and sometimes blind date. otherwise, i hate that fucking thing with a passion greater than mel's.

In the 1980's there was a show in the UK called "Why Don't You". It was about doing other things than watching television, and starred little Gordie kids who could hardly speak a word of English. I thought it was quite ironic that you had to watch this show in order to to know what to do when you're not suppose to be watching this show.

I'm sorry I like sports. If I didn't I could be all hip and indie and not watch TV. And go rock climbing and hang out at the gym and hit the clubs 4 nights a week, and play monopoly and scrabble every night, ...... Blah Blah Blah,

Or I could spend 8 hours a day on the internet like it is so much better than tv.

Hey Dr.G., relax already. You keep justifying your decision to watch sports and no one has even said how lame that is...not that I'm saying it's lame, of course.

I just remembered I'll be turning my TV on for sure to watch The Simpsons on Sunday, too.

there's nothing fundamentally wrong with watching television, as long as you can exercise willpower over watching too much of it.

i think television is a waste of my time and space. i use one of them camera monitors to play some videogames once in a while...but television, nah. the few hours a week i watch at friends or my mom are pathetic, we don't have a lot of channels over here and it's allready flooded with crap.

[QUOTE=Kit!]hey thats interesting.. where did you read that?

i'm not dismissing it completely, its a noble idea but i just wonder how effective it really is. it takes a lot for people to change their mindset and habits.[/QUOTE]

I been fed that statistic numerous times by psychologists, teachers and a few books. I don't know how true it is, but I do know that it doesn't take a long time for me to form a habit and forget what it was like before I was doing what I am doing now.

I agree, it probably doesn't change much. But if it changes a little I agree with it. And trypd is also right, TV itself isn't bad, but most people watch far too much of it and watch crap. I was sitting waiting for my mechanic to finish my car and The Swan was on and it made me sick. I can't believe people are sitting around watching this crap. What message are we sending?

I hate TV. Even The Simpsons--yeah, [I]that's right[/I], I said it!
The Simpsons blows, it's the same jokes over and over, too much commercials, and far too many watch it. If I were to watch TV, I would watch the Simpsons, it being the best show, but as the best it's still a show, which makes it boring. I can't stand sitting anywhere for more than 30 minutes, if I'm watching a movie I end up pausing it to go for a walk every half hour or so.

The problem is that nobody has any hobbies, so everytime they get bored they do the easiest thing, click on the TV. the obsession started when they were kids, and their lazy ass mother didn't want to raise them, so she just sat them in front of the Ninja Turtles of Power Rangers or Pokemon, and they became adjusted to a Saturday morning when the sun's best shine is speant keeping the Sateillite dish dry.
They get raised by Television, and then the signals that it broadcasts leave them unsterile, so TV becomes their only child.

If you stop watching TV for just one month, you'll never watch it again. That's a guarantee, bitchs, you can take that shit to the bank.

were you standing when you typed all that?
you seem to spend immense blocks of time posting here.
and my mother wasn't too lazy to raise me. i chose to watch tv as a child and i did tons of other stuff.
generalization is such a bore.

[QUOTE=big S]were you standing when you typed all that?
you seem to spend immense blocks of time posting here.
and my mother wasn't too lazy to raise me. i chose to watch tv as a child and i did tons of other stuff.
generalization is such a bore.[/QUOTE]
So you're an exception, good for you. Have a cookie:
[IMG]http://www.whoi.edu/generalinfo/buttery/cookie.gif[/IMG]

Either you don't understand what generalization is, or maybe there's a part of it you don't understand(GENERAL), or maybe you just wanted to make a post. Either way, I'll explain this to you in a simple manner:

There's 6 apples, 5 are red, and 1 is green.
I'm saying, "There are lots of red apples here, Big S."
And you're saying, "No, there's a green one!"

i think i get it. or maybe i don't. i just like analogies. and cookies. goodbye.

i have gotten into the habit of turning off the tv whenever i go into the room though. it has a habit of being on when no one's watching it...

i talk about my TV the way brock talks about his stiff johnson. 55 inches of high definition beauty!

turn it off? yeah sure. you'd have to kill me first.

[QUOTE=alene][url]http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/31/apontv.tvturnoff.ap/[/url]

Turn off the TV weeks started yesterday. Is anyone doing this?

I personally have not watched any TV in months, but I do watch a lot of DVDs late at night. I am making an effort to not watch those and instead get out and do something. Fishing last night. Game night tonight.

What bothers me is at the end of the article, they blame TV for obesity. Not teaching our children nutritional value, reducing portion size and lack of activity gets no mention. They say that advertising sweets and such makes kids eat sweets. But they also advertise sports and such, so why can't TV also contribute to activity? TV isn't the evil people want to make it out to be. Not spending time educating your kid and keeping things in moderation is the evil.[/QUOTE]

I don't watch tv at all. Ever. At least not for years. Everytime I reference a tv show, it's from some tv show years ago, or some tv show I heard about or some tv show I saw on DVD. I guess I do watch tv if you count soap operas my boss puts on the big screen tv in front of my desk, but that's more like being forced to listen to muzak in an elevator...

Interesting thoughts, alene... but nowhere do you mention that television increases stupidity and decreases intelligence. I mean, the article may be about obesity or whatnot, but we are talking television and television is a far greater evil to your mind than to your body. Putting aside the fact that tv can be informative on occasion and that not all shows are bad and that commercial-free stations... television, plainand simple, does not stimulate the mind or make anyone think about anything. I know for me, when I would watch tv for an entire day, I mean show-after-show- after-show, that the next day I wouldn't be any smarter, and in fact, would feel dumber. Really I couldn't remember half of what I watched, and even the stuff I could remember was just stupid plots or stupid stuff that happened... stuff that has nothing to do with me, stuff of no importance... even if I watched educational tv, whatever the hell that is, I mean you can watch all the discovery channel you want, but that still doesn't make you smart or even less stupid no matter how much you remember. It's funny though how I always say teachers are stupid and don't serve any purpose and this is just more proof of that since these days, "education" in most classes consists of watching a video on the school vcr/tv combo... I mean, beavis and butthead watch tv too...

[QUOTE=DrGonzoHST]Or I could spend 8 hours a day on the internet like it is so much better than tv.[/QUOTE]

I spend a lot of time on the internet at work, but then again I get paid to post here... sort-of, at least in my head.. and really, I think writing posts and thinking about shit is way more involving than watching a screen with images on it. People always say the internet is not the real world, but seriously, I sort of disagree since we are real people who say real things on a site about a real author. We talk about real shit and fake shit and everything in between. Most of all, I know we are real because people get all offended by shit we say. You know that stupid saying about arguing on the internet is like winning the special olympics? In essence that it is stupid? Nonsense. It's no stupider than doing it in real life. People argue in real life. People discuss stupid shit in real life. I think someone once told me I was reactionary and I'm like "no shit..." I mean everything in this place is because of a reaction. You post and i post and we all post because of some reason. It's all nonsense. This place is as real as your so-called life in the real world watching sports...

[QUOTE=trypdwyre]there's nothing fundamentally wrong with watching television, as long as you can exercise willpower over watching too much of it.[/QUOTE]

Willpower. Man... truly it is sad that people feel they are a victim to their tv. Willpower to me is taking the fork out your mouth to not get fat. willpower to me is fighting against all odds to survive a nazi death camp. Not watching tv sems easy by comparison. maybe not for some I guess... but that's probably because everyone is too fucking emo to care one way or the other. I say watch tv all you like. See where it gets you.. emotionally, physically, mentally... I mean, a lot of people never work out and overeat too... I suppose they have no willpower either, may as well be a big fat stupid fucking loser all our lives. Christ...

well i pretty much didn't watch tv at all for a few years
with the exception of adult swim every now & then
(ie: once a month maybe)
but now i watch south park, chapelle's show & daily show
fairly often

but i'm not one of those "OMG I CANT DO THIS COS MAH SHOW IS ON" types
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
that shit
is so annoying

and you fuckers are doing it
"like i never wathc tv and this is a great cause and all
but OMG MAH SHOW IS ON PLZ U DONT UNDERSTAND"

stupid

[QUOTE=disx]well i pretty much didn't watch tv at all for a few years
with the exception of adult swim every now & then
(ie: once a month maybe)
but now i watch south park, chapelle's show & daily show
fairly often

but i'm not one of those "OMG I CANT DO THIS COS MAH SHOW IS ON" types
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
that shit
is so annoying

and you fuckers are doing it
"like i never wathc tv and this is a great cause and all
but OMG MAH SHOW IS ON PLZ U DONT UNDERSTAND"

stupid[/QUOTE]

You are such a Comedy Central Nazi Youth...

[img]http://lpserver.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/olympics/images/b26-1.jpg[/img][img]http://www.rascalscomedyclub.com/West_Orange/images/comedy_central.jpg[/img]

I watch TV, but I'm usually doing something else at the same time. When I was in school, it was homework, now it's art stuff or cleaning, getting reading, eating, talking, whatever. I watch Cops, sitcoms, news, A&E, hospital shows, funny stuff (funniest videos, comedians) etc. But I don't sit there mindless and drooling.

I love comedy stuff. I'd much rather go to the Funny Bone here (which is a 90 second walk from my apt) but new people have taken it over and turned it to crap. It's not even open half the time. NOBODY good is there. At least I got to see Michael Winslow. We even had Screech here (hehe) before these people ruined the place. I'd much rather go there than watch TV, but I CAN'T.

Anyway. I don't think there's anything wrong with TV. Until you get to where it's the only interesting thing to do. That's what's sad. It's happening to my mom too. She's going to wake up 80 years old and realize she just spent the last fifty years going to work coming home, watching TV and sleeping. That's IT. All she does is sit on her bed and watch TV after work, until she goes to sleep (I almost typed "goes to bed" but she's already in bed...)

I would go crazy.

And you can learn things by watching TV. You just have to watch the right station, the right show on that station, and then pay attention. Some of it is actually worthwhile and interesting. And if you watch the right things, it can get you thinking and possibly involved in something you never even knew existed before watching the show. Like some of the things on Dateline or something. I can't think of anything now, it's been so long since I've seen it, but you know what I mean.

Oh yeah. And the "I don't even OWN a tv." people can get on my nerves.
Not everyone, of course, but the way some people say it makes me want to throw up on them.

[QUOTE=PsychoKeety]Oh yeah. And the "I don't even OWN a tv." people can get on my nerves.
Not everyone, of course, but the way some people say it makes me want to throw up on them. =)[/QUOTE]

I don't even OWN a tv. My tv OWNS me...