Hiding a Television

He watches it at friends' houses. They used to have Sex and the City Sundays. Sex and the City drinking games. Come dressed as your favorite character, shout callbacks at the reruns, that sort of thing. That's what he's referring to when he talks about his "writer's workshop" at friends houses.

I think they watch Entourage now and Chuck they all look at Chuck and he goes through evry celebrity guest and goes:

"Jagoff, jagoff, prick, prick, asshole, coke head-asshole, jagoff, lousy lay, jagoff, Quentin Tarantino, jagoff, asshole..."

Well, you get the idea.

The media is an expression of the collective unconscious to me, turning it off results in omiting a valuable resource for what's going on in the evolving, or de-volving human psyche.

[QUOTE=Spike]According to one recentish interview, Chuck *does* have a TV, apparently only to watch DVDs on.[/QUOTE]

So he's got the complete seasons of Sex and the City on DVD? Christ, no wonder why his literature's so subversive!

[QUOTE=Malakaiii]Totally agree that not having cable TV is the way to go. I found that I would waste so much time just watching something stupid, like 5 episodes of Trading Spaces, instead of doing something, ANYTHING, else!

And as far as cutting yourself out of society, you do, and you don't. I never watch the news on TV. It's bullshit that you have to sit through all the crap about malfunctioning car seats to get to the interesting stuff. I read newspapers or get the info online. Yes, I don't know which Tom Cruise movie is opening on which weekend, but I can live without that information...

Besides, I'm saving $40 a month...[/QUOTE]

No, I don't mean you're cutting yourself off from society. i mean you're excising yourself from some seriously raw product of the collective unconscious. TV, and media in general, to me, are the dreams of the world brain or the cultural brain or whatever you want to call it. It's not that miss what's going on, it's that you miss a ceratin peek behind the curtain of what's going on.

For the first time in history the coolective has collective expression, and just don't dismiss that out of hand. Even if it is shite, even if it look meaningless. Most of it is, but in there, I swear, are the stuff dreams are made of....

[QUOTE=Malakaiii]Television is created to lull the masses. It's used to create so much fear and negative energy. Everything is twisted and regurgitated so people will respond in a specific way.

I agree with your earlier comment about the "de-volving human psyche."

Everyone is a consumer and they distract them from what's really going on in the world with inane stuff. "Oh, no! Britany Spears got married! I'm shocked and apalled and I don't care who the president is as long as I can get secret photos from her wedding!"

If I hear about another reality show...

If I watch another censored movie, where the word "ass" is replaced with "kazoo"...

If I have to hear about which celebrity is gay/anorexic/divorced...

If I see one more commercial for pet food/erection pills/running shoes...

I've experience all that television can offer me. Anything worth while can be obtained through the internet...[/QUOTE]

The net is another extension of that dream state. But I think, down the timeline a ways, the two will be virtually indistinguishable...

the real reason for the idiot box, the boob tube, is for marketing. Every television show is critiqued and created, birthed and boardroomed for the sole purpose and intent of generating ratings. and ratings are there soley to set the price for ad space. so given a specific channels agenda, i.e the history channel, their group of thinkers will try to offer up the best crack they can find for their specific-needs users. As will Discovery, etc... to that end i actually prefer having cable versus just network. the networks are all fighting the same battle for the same eyeballs. the little fractured target specific cabel channels appeal to unique demographics. that allows me to pick and choose better. not perfectly, just better. ultimately yes we can waste alot of time in front of the tv. but at least via cable i can say NO to the sitcom and yes to some slightly higher than base level of enlightenment. or i can laugh my ass off at Chapelle's Show.

I agree 100% with the comparison to opiate. you have to watch it carefully. otherwise you wake up and you're 3 years older with nothing to show for it.

As far as the internet...touché, as far as cable goes, expect no apoligies from me. I make my living at a computer, in a field that has been utterly revolutionized by them for the better in my lifetime, but if I could somehow uninvent the television I would, even if it meant giving up the computers.

[QUOTE=MockyMockins]Think of all the time you waste on pointless internet forums, all the pointless hours wasted on shit that nobody will ever read or care about, all this stuff you post online, your blog, your boring life story of how jesse dumped jone and how you want to move in on the prey, your terrible life, and how bad it is growing up in college, or with your parents in fairytale suburbia. Think of all the times , all the hours you waste away, prattling along to your freinds over the internet, typing away and saying nothing. Pretending to listen but only waiting for your turn to respond. Think of everytime youve just sat there, and read through pages and pages and pages of pointless text on a forum, or the hours of conversation over nothing on some messaging program. All the minutes, the second sthat add up as each page must load, searching for something on google and having to browse through piles and pile sof useless junk, thrown on the internet and misnamed by idoits who cant spell. Think of every second you waste, every minute it takes for your computer to boot up, for your modem to click on, for each and every song to download. Think of how it will all be gone, how youll be gone, how nobody cares what you write on your stupid blog site. Its you screaming for attention. Its you the tiny speck of dust crying to the world, and guess what? Nobody is listening. Nobody wants to hear you, nobody will notice one more speck of dust with insignifcant problems. Youd rather bitch and whine, youd rather drown yourself in your problems than build a raft. Think of each moment you eat up, crying abotu how life is unfair over your chat, how your boss is soo mean, how your mom doesnt love you. Think of how much crap you spitout and how much you are forced to swallow. Brilliance cant be made, it has to be found, and on the Internet, thats like a cliche of all cliches, a needle in the haystack. Cut the crap. Cut the lies. You want to fit in, you want to conform, because being an individual doesnt mean shit. It doesnt mean anything. No one will honour you, no one will want you and you will die poor and lonely. Or at leats tahst what they tell you. Being crap now is crap forever, or so they tell you. Nobody will ever love you. So you type away, you waste your time. Instead of typing on that chat program, you could be making your own, instead of crying out your blog, you could be writing a story, instead looking for interesting things, you could be doing interesting things. Instead of looking at porn you could be making your own, minus the camera or not. But no. Thats to hard. Instead you sit infront of your screen, typing blindly away, lying to yourself that hey at least im not watchign TV, this is soooo much better, or so they tell you. Nobody is listening to you, speck of dust. You are just a statistic, you are just visitor number three hundred thousand and fourty two to this page. Just another anonymous user, no face or reputation. You are nothing, or so they tell you. Nobody wants you , little speck of dust. And nobody cares. O but the internet is better than T.v.

Or so they tell you.

That is crap.[/QUOTE]
Think of all the time it would take me to read that post!

When you go on that long, do you get dizzy from your head flapping or anything?

ah the anti internet tirade - i certainly don't want to debate that point as there are numerous benefits to both pro/con. but as to the television issue, i think we can safely agree that balance is the key. like everything in life be it alcohol, religious zeal, sarcasm, power - it all comes down to balance.

can you waste a life in front of the tv? undoubtedly. can you learn alot from watching it. certainly. the exact same thign can be said for the internet.

balance my son, that is the key. we have to be in control of our faculties/addictions/vices...

[QUOTE=BitOfAFinger]a) who cares what chuck does

b) get rid of cable, not necessarily the physical TV. I did this, and it kicks ass. I use the TV to watch DVDs, and that's it. Just not being exposed to a constant stream of bullshit, in the form of advertisements, has been refreshing. You'll go a little stir crazy at first, but then you'll be fine.[/QUOTE]

Word.

I love movies. But fucking hate TV. Advertisements, err :(

Just like, I love music. But I hate the radio.

[QUOTE=phlegmatics]

i watch cartoon network,comedy central and one show on showtime.

[/QUOTE]

Is it Dead Like Me? I really like that show. Its probably the one thing I watch other then the occasional Comedy Central and History Channel.

[QUOTE=phlegmatics]YES IT IS! oh god i love that show, supposofly the idea came from a book
were death went away (for some reason i cant remeber)and a normal average joe had to take over the reigns like it was an ordinary 9 to 5 job[/QUOTE]

I believe it's Piers Anthony's: On A Pale Horse.

Good show.

No [I]Six Feet Under[/I], but still...

[QUOTE=Parkaboy]I believe it's Piers Anthony's: On A Pale Horse.

Good show.

No [I]Six Feet Under[/I], but still...[/QUOTE]

I never know why people are so quick to compare the two, just because they center around death, they are compltley different shows.

Growing up, I'd only watch T.V. when The Three Stooges were on. I'd still be watching them now but I can never seem to find them on tube anymore. On a side note, did anyone know about the planning to colorize The Three Stooges for DVD?

[QUOTE=Chixulub]As far as the internet...touché, as far as cable goes, expect no apoligies from me. I make my living at a computer, in a field that has been utterly revolutionized by them for the better in my lifetime, but if I could somehow uninvent the television I would, even if it meant giving up the computers.[/QUOTE]
That's kind of like saying that we should de-invent the telephone to get rid of all of those damn telemarketers. And eliminate the internet because this SPAM is pissing me off. Not to mention outlaw the written word because of those stupid fliers I get on my windshield.
It's like you're watching a ten car pileup and saying, "that stupid car", instead of blaming the fuck behind the wheel.
Don't blame the technology because 100,000 average Americans think that 'Joe Millionaire' is a worthy use of an hour.

[QUOTE=BitOfAFinger]a) who cares what chuck does

b) get rid of cable, not necessarily the physical TV. I did this, and it kicks ass. I use the TV to watch DVDs, and that's it. Just not being exposed to a constant stream of bullshit, in the form of advertisements, has been refreshing. You'll go a little stir crazy at first, but then you'll be fine.[/QUOTE]
i agree. i stopped watching tv, other than when at someone's house, some years ago. just got rid of it. as in no tv. i have a tv but only use it to watch movies through a dvd player. cassette died so i don't even bother with those now. it opens a whole new area of observation on society. people talk about what is on sale, new shows, what people did on tv in those shows as if they are family members, new items for sale, news about blah blah as if it is relevant to their lives, i think, "who gives a fuck?". i didn't know what happened on 9/11 until hours after the fact, so i got to see people freaking out, people wanting war, people dazed, and then i learned what happened. i could watch them as an observation because i wasn't caught up in the drama. it didn't matter to me. so if everybody unplugged the drug, what would happen?

its funny because i've just decided to take the TV out of my room. i mostly have it to watch movies but i think even that is ruining me. time for books on tape and painting!