Well, I now feel dumber.....

[Narfellus]

Ugh, my girlfriend has the TV on from 5pm when she gets home to 10 pm when she goes to sleep. the majority of those shows are sitcoms and reality shows. I just can't watch. I have a nice pair of earplugs and a stack of books to zone out. And the show where Mini-Me pees on the wall is, as i have heard, called the Surreal Life. It is impossible to watch unless you have the PrimeTime Resistance Feat.

 

[devilish]

I saw a commercial for the Ashley Simpson show a few weeks back:
I think they are capitalizing on <I>schadenfreude</i> : the show
starts with her a few weeks(months) before her disaster on MTV
and takes it to when she's booed (for the National Anthem? I've
forgotten already).

Funny how reality TV works : the audience pretends they're watching
"heroes" (Survivor, Real World : "Look at them build a fire/get along")
but in the end, it's part gladiator-combat and part-schadenfreude
("Look at Ashley burn!! Watch as her hopes and dreams are destroyed!!!")
Bread and Circuses!

Not only is society become dumber, but they're losing their souls/vibrance/empathy
as well.

On the flip side, my current addictions are Enterprise, Deadwood (yea! It's
back) and House.

-D


P.S. No, "schadenfreude" is not the current word on my Word-A-Day calendar.
Like most German words, it's the only one applicable to the situation

 

[mojo1701]

I saw a commercial for the Ashley Simpson show a few weeks back:
I think they are capitalizing on <I>schadenfreude</i>

Yeah, I was laughing at her when she walked off of the stage during her last SNL performance. Sooooooo good.

For me it's 1) cable modem and HBO's Carnivale, Enterprise and Battlestar Galactica.

For me, it's pretty much the same, 'cept I don't get HBO. But I DO get FOX, and the only thing worth watching FOX for is Arrested Development. Did anyone catch last Sunday's full hour of AD?

 

[Darth K'Trava]

I watch a fair amount of TV, but manage to avoid anything that has the word "real" or "reality" in its title or description. That eliminates 90% of the junk.

I watch mostly documentary-type stuff and any decent sci-fi/fantasy I can find. My wife likes "grown-up" dramas like ER, NYPD Blue and Law & Order.

The only "reality" show I watch is COPS. It's funny to watch dumb criminals make an ass out of themselves and it get shown on TV for all to see....

I end up watching alot of music videos and the occasional sci-fi show. But mostly I'm here, plunking away on the internet. Like a poster above, I mainly got cable to get broadband. That and mom made me get it so she can snooze while "watching" TV in the evenings...... :\

 

[Algolei]

Welcome to The Dumbing Down of America. It sure explains a lot over the last few years.

Paris Hilton.

Every time I see an ad with her in it, I turn off my tv for at least half an hour. Recently they put her show (whatever it's called) before the Daily Show, and I ended up missing an episode of John Stewart.

Damn her.

 

[diaglo]

Jessica Simpson is famous because she is stupid.
Ashlee is famous because her sister is Jessica.

who? who?

i feel like woodsie owl.

 

[Algolei]

i feel woodsie

You're a dirty, dirty old man.

 

[Torm]

I watch "Still Standing", "Listen Up", and "CSI: Miami" on Mondays - the two sitcoms are actually pretty well written and not just recycled plots from old sitcoms. Not always, anyway. And of course, CSI rules.
Tuesdays is "Navy NCIS" (CSI+JAG=extra cool), "Veronica Mars", and "Scrubs" on PVR afterward.
Wednesdays is "Smallville" and "CSI:New York." (even though CSI+crappy writing=not cool :\ ) I was watching "Battlestar Galactica", but SkyOne got to the season finale.
Thursdays is "Will and Grace" and "Joey", then "CSI" and "Without a Trace" (CSI:FBI )
Fridays is "Enterprise", "JAG", and "N3mbers". And then I watch "Joan of Arcadia" sometime that weekend on PVR.

And then, of course, "The Daily Show", everyday possible.

I get my money's worth out of cable - and since I have it all stored where we can pause and rewind, if we want to stop and talk about something that happened that day or something that something on the show reminded us of, it's no problem. Frequently I'll pause to explain something about science or history or such that relates to what we're watching to the kids - so in our case, even if the show is junk, it often ends up unintentionally educational. Of course, it helps that we don't watch complete junk like "reality" shows.

 

[devilish]

Crap! How could I have forgotten the Daily Show!
Love it love it love it!!!

Paris Hilton.

Every time I see an ad with her in it, I turn off my tv for at least half an hour. Recently they put her show (whatever it's called) before the Daily Show, and I ended up missing an episode of John Stewart.

Damn her.

Hmmm....one would think they'd cancel each other out.
My recommendation if it happens again: WATCH the Daily Show in it's
Anti-Hilton goodness and then turn off the TV for an hour afterwards.

-D

 

[Pozatronic]

Your brain is more active during sleep than it is while watching television.



And that's one to grow on.