Whenever I’ve encountered people who proudly claim not to watch TV, I’ve always felt several things, including…
Guilt for the amount of TV I watch;
Disbelief, thinking they’re lying and just trying to look cool;
Rationalization for the amount of TV I watch;
Confusion, when it turns out they still have nice TV’s in their homes.
However, in the past three or four months, I’ve watched much less TV than I used to. The biggest reason is that I no longer have Tivo because of my recent move, which means if I want to watch something I have to actually be home when it comes on, which is not easy with my irregular schedule. So I don’t really keep up with anything on TV anymore.
Tonight, however, I was randomly flipping around some of the channels, and I realized I haven’t been missing anything. For example, I checked out that trainwreck called “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.” I didn’t know whether to laugh, or be disgusted, or what. I finally just shrugged and thought, “More narcissistic B-List people who can’t get enough attention otherwise so they have to humiliate themselves on TV.”
And most of what I saw tonight was of similar quality. There seems to be another of those Bachelorette things, since apparently people haven’t yet learned that relationships formed under those circumstances are artificial, superficial and moronic. There’s also some sort of obsession MSNBC has with prison documentaries, and of course, you can always find lots of Jon & Kate.
So while I don’t think I’ll become the total “I don’t watch TV except for PBS” kind of person, and while I’ll still enjoy lots of Seinfeld reruns and my West Wing DVD’s, I think I’m pretty much over most TV. Soon, if we’re ever at some sort of social gathering and you mention something you watch, you’ll see me get a look of quiet superirority on my face, and I’ll say something like, “I’m not familiar with that – I don’t really watch much TV.”
And I’ll feel cool, while you, on the other hand, quickly end your conversation with me and rush off to find someone more fun.
