Monday, November 12, 2007

The Permeability of the No-TV Rule

We don't watch TV* here.


*That's what I tell everyone. In reality, we watch far less TV than the average folks, but I'm still surprised at how often the TV is on. Much of what we do watch is on DVD, after the fact. Take, for instance, Heroes. We're watching the first season now.

Now I know a lot of you bloggers write about the shows that the kids are watching today -- that America's Next Top Runway, and the Lost Restaurant, and the Real Estate Magnate's Apprentice (where the guy keeps chopping up the loft spaces into condos and they keep multiplying and supply seems to outpace demand...shudder). But it can't hold a candle to the simple pleasures of interacting with your family, enjoying a wholesome meal in one another's company, performing the day's mundane but meaningful tasks, reading a story, playing patty-cake. Am I right? I mean, I'm not sure, because I'm usually plugged in to the Internet, checking the sitemeter stats, but from what I hear, TV rots your brain.

Anyway, what's my point? Heroes is pretty cool so far. And I'm really starting to develop some respect for that lovable scamp Caillou.



7 comments:

Amy Plum said...

We don't have t.v. Or rather, we have a t.v. and a DVD player, but it doesn't have an antenna so we don't receive television stations. And we like it that way!

Like you, though, the t.v. is often on: playing DVDs like Elmo, Baby Bach, and Monsters Inc. And I downloaded an episode of Ugly Betty to my laptop last night, just to see what the fuss was about. (Loved it.)

But the difference is, like with your arrangement, we have to make an effort to choose something to watch. The t.v. isn't on seducing us into watching something that we didn't intend to. And the best part...no commercials!

Lebo said...

Blah - blah - blah - I can't comprehend not watching TV. That makes no sense to me. But - oh hey - Heroes is one of my favorite show out there! Good eh? Heroes is basically the only thing i watch though. You aren't missing anything.

Bette said...

Oh, dear dawg. I always felt that Caillou had some major, major whine issues. Luckily my youngest is now 7, so we've moved on to "Pulp Fiction - Director's Cut."

Bill Braine said...

Yeah, I was kidding. The only good thing about that little brat is that he's Canadian. (Not yours. Caillou.)

wcs said...

I'm an unabashed watcher.

Watching tv in French helps me with my language skills. Lame, but it's true.

French tv doesn't normally interrupt programs or movies with commercials (except on TF1). They show up in between the programs. Nice, eh?

I'm catching up on a lot of movies that I never bothered to go see over the years. Probably saved enough to pay the cost of the satellite dish right there.

And I love watching tennis - can't get enough. And now that it's (American) football season, well, I enjoy a game or two a week. And the Tour de France in July...

And cooking shows. Don't get me started.

Documentaries, science, and nature shows - the French still do them wonderfully.

There's more, but I don't want you think I spend all my time in front of the tv. Er, excuse me, but I have to change the channel now...

Anonymous said...

I hate hate hate Caillou. Ugh. We don't have cable, so we just do NetFlix, and I am so behind the TV times that I'm watching Sex & the City right now. It is fun, if slightly dated (okay, a lot dated. Whatever. I read fashion magazines so at least I'm aware of the dated-ness.)

Bette said...

You know, I feel bad about Caillou, now that I think about it. He's bald, he's short, he's Canadian (I kid), he cannot stop whining, and he's really really Canadian! That's a stacked deck.

And when is someone going to tell Dora that her bangs are *so* 2005?