Give up TV..

[toddzilla]

trust me, you won't miss it after a while.

eom.

B-)

[Dookus]

1. No thank you

[Droopy]

2. I know what you mean

I went for several months while watching very little tv. I might catch the news or a movie every once in a while. But I'd go for days without turning on the tube. You're right. I didn't miss it.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. I went five years

I didn't miss it a bit.

[indigo32]

4. I'd like to think I could

I know I'd be better off... but yikes!!!

[searchingforlight]

5. When I divorced, I left the T.V. with my ex.

(thought he should have something to do when the fling of the moment dropped him)

Had no T.V. for 3 years and never missed it. Read so many books. Took walks. Lots of other things to do.

Now I have a T.V. and I watch. Sometimes I just sit there scrolling through the channels. I made a decision this year to not pick up any new shows NO MATTER HOW WELL THEY ARE RATED and to tape the ones I do watch. I can watch 2 hours of shows in 1 + hours with no commercials. Hopefully I will be down to one night a week.

Now if I would just give up the internet:D :D

[liberalmuse]

6. I don't miss it...

but I do check out movies from the library and buy a dvd once in awhile. I don't miss network/cable tv, except for The Daily Show, but I can read about it on the threads here.

[fedupwithbush]

7. We used to live in the country.

Two really good channels, 1 or 2 occasionally. We miss those days. Read a lot of great books and talked a lot more.

[toddzilla]

9. i should qualify..

i do watch movies, but i really can't stomach television anymore, and i've been 98% TV free for 4+ years

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. Agreed, I have it, but watch rarely...

Does not matter a bit to me.

[Lizz612]

10. Almost

I watch West Wing with the campus democrats, but thats it. Everything else, well lets hope I don't loose the internet again cause.... its not pretty :)

[Ivory_Tower]

11. Coming up on three years with no TV antenna

and eleven years with no cable.

I do watch sports when I'm at a bar, and I scroll through the cable channels when I'm in a hotel room.

I watch occasionally movies on DVD (thanks to Netflix), but that's the only reason I use my television.

Of course, I spend way too much time online....damn DSL.

If you haven't read "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television" by Jerry Mander, you should.

[whathappened]

12. no way folks

don't watch alot of tv , but must watch the old show on tvland , mr. ed is going every nite right now

[Dookus]

13. I don't care who watches what....

what bothers me is the "religious conversion" zeal with which people tell me what I should watch/eat/read/do.

Don't like tv? Don't watch it. Don't like abortion? Don't have one. Don't like meat? Don't eat it. Don't like cigarettes? Don't smoke. Don't like homosexuality? Don't fuck someone of your gender.

But don't think others have to live YOUR life.

[toddzilla]

14. touchy, touchy...

chill out...

it's just a suggestion. i'm not exactly giving a venomous diatribe on the evils of television here. I just think people need to realize that spending 20 hours a week sitting on the couch with your mouth open doing NOTHING isn't a particularly productive way to conduct your life.

my message was simple.. give up TV, after a while you'll find that you don't miss it. Mostly because it's pretty worthless.


if you don't like my opinion.. DONT FOLLOW IT..

how's them apples??
:eyes:

[Lorien]

16. Remember in "Bowling for Columbine"

what Marilyn Manson said caused violence in America? "Comsumerism and fear mongering". I never thought I would be agreeing with Marilyn Mason, but I thought his comments were spot on! Most of that forced consumerism ("you are worthless unless you have___"!) and fearmongering comes from television, commercial radio, and mainstream magazines.I cut off the cable three years ago, but I do still watch Bill Moyers, Nature, the West Wing and Gilmore Girls. I get up and do housework during the commercial breaks, otherwise I couldn't stomach it!

I grew up without a television, too-and I never missed it then!

[Dookus]

17. I'm chill, dude...

and not terribly touchy.

But your thread title was not "Hey try this, it worked for me, and you may like it, too." It was "Give up TV". That's the imperative form. It's a command.

No need to get angry. I was expressing my issue with such commands. You expressed your issue with television. It's all good.

[BiggJawn]

18. You think THAT was "imperative", try MY motto...

KILL your TV....Before it kills YOU!

OK, too strong? That's fine, your milage may vary. Void where prohibited. Always use protection. Friends don't let friends vote Republican.
:7

[toddzilla]

22. consider me chilled ..

i guess i could have made it more of a suggestion..

sometimes you need to slap people in the face though..

probably a better thread topic would be

"why do you watch tv?"

[LittleApple81]

15. I did not have one for 22 years...

While the kids were growing up.
I got basic cable when I got cable for my computer. I do like to watch some of it. But AM I GLAD we did not have it when the kids were growing up. Most of it is unadulerated crapola.
Instead, we read, talked, traveled, discussed books with them. Trust me, if you have children you should get rid of it.

[newyawker99]

29. Congrats LittleApple81!! 400 posts

:toast:

[Jen72]

30. I had friends that didn't have TV as kids

they were always at my place watching children TV instead.

[Nikia]

19. I haven't watched television much

In our area we have to have cable television to get cable modem. when we first got it, we watched it fairly often. Then we didn't and now rarely do. I almost watched no television in college either. We rent movies but those often are more substantial and never have commercials in the middle.

[CanuckAmok]

20. Here, try this...

http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/tvturnoff/

Check out the rest of the site, too! :hi:

[Swede]

21. Uh,I quit drinking coffee for lent this year

[dweller]

23. Spanish Pipedream

(AKA Blow Up Your TV)
© John Prine

She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol
And I was just a soldier on my way to Montreal
Well she pressed her chest against me
About the time the juke box broke
Yeah, she gave me a peck on the back of the neck
And these are the words she spoke

Blow up your TV throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find Jesus on your own

Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo
Yeah she sang her song all night long, tellin' me what to do

Well, I was young and hungry and about to leave that place
When just as I was leavin', well she looked me in the face
I said "You must know the answer."
"She said, "No but I'll give it a try."
And to this very day we've been livin' our way
And here is the reason why

We blew up our TV threw away our paper
Went to the country, built us a home
Had a lot of children, fed 'em on peaches
They all found Jesus on their own
......................................................................................................

whatcha got to lose?
dp

[VOX]

24. Barely watch it now -- should have the cable yanked to save $$$...

I get all my news (selectively) online, CSPAN can be picked up online, movies comes from NetFlix.

My wife works from home, and she's too busy to watch it. Our cable bill is a thorough waste of money.

And I don't for a moment feel like I'm missing *anything.*

[Booberdawg]

25. No way. I have a TV in every room. It's on all day.

Even while I'm on DU and not watching it. In fact, the TV in my bedroom has a timer, so it shuts off after I fall asleep. I know. I'm hopeless. :D

[LWolf]

26. I hardly watch it.

But I haven't given it up.

I don't watch news on tv; ever. Even on 9/11, I watched for 5 minutes to get the gist, then turned it off.

I watch an old movie, or use pay-per-view, every once in a while. Like once every 2 or 3 months. And I know about a few shows; if my son watches it, it's on in the background and I will sometimes join him for awhile. He gets irritated with me because I'll spend 5 minutes and then ask him to summarize the whole thing so I can go on my way. "If you want to know, watch it yourself!"
So, I do drift in and out of what he watches:

That 70s show
The Simpsons
Law & Order and it's spinoffs
Monk
XFiles

Every once in awhile, when somebody here reminds me, I'll turn on CSpan or The Daily show, etc.

[Zech Marquis]

27. yeah...

the quality is just down the toilet. The Food Network is awesome, espcially when Rache Ray is on--my god, what a cutie with some booty she is :evilgrin:

[Samurai_Writer]

28. Pulled the plug 1 1/2 years ago

I rarely watched TV before that, but when I moved, I found out you could not get ANY channels where I live without cable, because we are so far away from the major cities. So I decided to spend my money on DSL instead of cable, and haven't regretted it a bit. I still have my big screen TV, and am building quite a DVD collection. I read my news online, and don't miss any of those crappy sitcoms.