Click on the cartoon strip to see the inevitable conclusion...
- Has there been a moment in your life when you were losing the battle to control your TV viewing? How low did you sink? How bad did it get? And are you willing to share the disgusting details?
- If you haven't sunk that low, but have ever observed yourself going to great lengths not to miss a favorite TV show, can you describe it? What was the show? What great lengths did you go to to make sure you saw it? Was it worth it?
James
13 comments:
well I am addicted to TV and will not deny it - typically, I commit to about 15 different tv shows a season. It all began though when I was living in China and started to watch TV on DVD, for example: I watched "24" season 1 in about 26 hours and watched seasons 2 and 3 or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" pretty much straight through (I took a few breaks to teach English classes, but didnt sleep for about 3 days). I blame it on the fact that I was in Northern China in the dead of winter and that it would get dark around 3 pm so there was nothing better to do but watch tv - but it was probably more than just culture shock, Buffy is really an awesome TV show.
I'm not really addicted to television (at the moment)... but I'm sure Drew won't mind me sharing his story. ;-)
Being in Ireland we tend to miss shows we grew to love in Boston. I have mine, but nothing compares to Drew's love for Heros.
We had friends over one night for dinner, and Drew was very anxious because he had just downloaded all the episodes he had missed in the new season. He mentioned this, and his friend was equally excited. After making a copy for his friend, their family left for home.
The next morning as I woke up as Drew was climbing into bed. (6:30am) He had been up ALL NIGHT watching Heros! Samantha and I had to go to extreme measures to get him out of bed in time for church. (We were happy to do this, and thrilled to find a use for those tiny water balloons!)
Much to our surprise our friend had gone home, helped get the children off to bed, and stayed up all night watching Hero's too. Sadly for him, he had meetings at church that started at 7am, so he didn't get any sleep. At least Drew got a few hours!
(I am ashamed to say... In college a bunch of us skipped a big test to watch a big wedding on a soap opera. I still remember the wedding and the fun we had. Don't know what I got in that class, however.)
I have had a few moments in my life where I realized I was too addicted to t.v. One was about 14 years ago. We were living in South Carolina. I had two very young children, and became very addicted to "Sisters." When I started passing on family activities (walks at the park) so that I could stay home and watch Sisters, I knew I was in trouble.
A 2nd time I realized I was in trouble was about 12 years ago. We were in upstate New York. My husband had to drive about an hour or more away to interview a local leader of the John Birch Society for a research project he was doing for a class at the University. I went along. While Mr. John Birch talked to James about guns, politics, etc., I feigned interest as his wife told me about beating their children. It was a painful hour we were required to be there, especially because it stretched into multiple hours. I was mentally sick when we finally made it back to the car and realized that we'd missed the season finale of X-Files. I was so desperate, that I started calling every one I could think of who lived on the West Coast, knowing that the show wouldn't have aired yet. I begged them to video tape it for us and mail it to us. Someone did. And I think that the process of listening to myself beg people to record and mail a show for me made me realize that I was addicted. Either that, or the whole John Birch visit just wasn't any fun.
I clearly recall the day that I finally caved in and admitted I was a full fledged TV addict. It was ten years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was going to be away from home so I wouldn’t be able to catch the second season finale of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the first season finale of “Dawson’s Creek.” So I set my trusty VCR to record both episodes. When I had finally arrived at home my brother greeted me at the door. “Kelly just called and asked if you were recording Buffy and Dawson’s. I told her yes. She said you’re going to be ticked.” I ran downstairs to my bedroom, turned on the TV, and rewound the VCR Tape. I sat down to watch Buffy. I was about two inches away from the TV screen right around the same time Buffy penetrated Angel’s heart with a sword. I could feel the static electricity on my skin as tears streamed down my face. I blew my nose as the show wrapped up and wondered to myself “What did Kelly think I would be so upset about? That was a really good episode.”
Then I settled in for an hour of verbose filled teen angst. There were rumors swirling around the internet that this episode of “Dawson’s Creek” might end with Joey and Dawson finally kissing. About forty minutes into the episode the TV screen goes blank. I get up rewind the tape a little and press play assuming it was a glitch in my VCR, same result. So I press fast forward this time. I forwarded it to the end of the tape and it was like “The Nothing” took over my set. I probably messed around with the TV and VCR for a good twenty to thirty minutes before it dawned on me “This is what Kelly was talking about!” I picked up the phone and called Kelly to find out what she knew. She was watching the episode live when the station cut out due to technical difficulties. Come the next morning I was still irritated so I went as far as calling the local TV station to find out if and when the episode might re-air. I was told it was highly unlikely because the station would need to get permission from The WB in order to do so. Dang nab it! After I hung up the phone I realized the length I had gone to just to see Dawson lay one on Joey. Sign me up for the twelve step program because this chick is addicted.
Don’t fret my story has a happy ending. Come August I was extremely relieved to find out that the local station was able to broadcast the season finale a week or two before the premiere of the second season. Phew, I finally got my fix.
When I was a young wife and mother--long, long ago, I started watching a soap opera in the daytime. The plot and characters of that particular story were interesting to me--they had some tragic qualities and I just wanted to see how that story turned out--but as it drew closer to resolution other stories began to take more and more time each episode--I finally realized they try to get you hooked on the next drama unfolding. The conclusion to the story I wan interested in didn't occur for weeks and it was quite a letdown when it did. That cured me of ever getting hooked on another soap opera!
When I was a child and there were only 3 stations we used to gather each Sunday evening as a family to watch "Gunsmoke" and the Ed Sullivan show and Disney. There was one particularly nice series called the "Loretta Young Show" Years later we used to gather as a family to watch each episode of the "Bill Cosby Show." Viewing shows like that together often led to good discussions.
It was a common thing when I was a girl for us to watch some program--then my Mom would pull out the encyclopedia so we could learn more about that particular topic or person.
Mine is less a funny experience and more what's going on at our house lately. Back in Boston, we had shows we watched every night of the week. If we weren't going to be home, a tape was in the VCR recording for us. It's sad to admit that we watched several hours of TV each evening.
When we moved, we decided to not get cable. Funny how scary the prospect seemed! We did get a weak antenna signal on a few of the major networks, so for a while we watched some of our shows.
Gradually, we moved to watching things online. First with the shows we couldn't get on our TV and eventually with everything. We even moved the TV to another room where it gets no signal at all.
But the really sad thing? We watch more TV than ever. Because so much is available online, we're able to keep up with most of our shows for free. (I'm cursing you Bravo!!) And we've added shows that we were interested in before, but that had the same time slot as something else.
When I stop to think about it, we've always been addicted to TV. Web video has just given us the ability to time-shift our viewing and fit in more. That's probably a bad thing... but I'm not complaining.
I go through the Fall TV preview of Entertainment Weekly every year, turning down the pages and making notes of the new shows I will watch. Then I post them on my blog in full detail and track the shows that I enjoy and the ones that don't quite take. A few weeks before the new season, I usually get a call from a friend asking me which ones they should watch and I also have a sit-down meeting with another friend going through all the new shows we are going to try out.
Two years ago, I had a really full plate of new shows to try out, so I didn't consider adding Friday Night Lights. The first reason is because I don't like sports and this is a show about a high school football team. The second reason is that I saw the movie on recommendation of a very discerning friend, but I thought the movie was pretty boring. But my roommate at the time decided to watch FNL the series and was totally obsessed with it. As she watched it religiously each week, I started to get interested in it. Also, the buzz was huge about this show and started to be called "The best show you are not watching." I decided to wait until it came out on DVD rather than start in the middle of the season. When it came out in the summer of 2007, I started getting the DVDs from netflix. The first one came and didn't run properly, so I sent it back to netflix, telling them to send me a replacement. I watched the first disc, then the second disc, but when the third one came, it, too, did not play properly. So instead of sending it back, I turned off the TV, put on my shoes and went at that very moment to buy a new DVD player. Mine was ancient and I assumed that must be the real problem. However, when I got the new one home, the disc still did not play. So I put my shoes back on and went to Borders and bought the DVDs myself. This is a bigger deal than just jumping in the car and going to Target because I live in New York City, and everything I do takes a long time on the subway.
By this time, I had a new roommate, who would come home while I was watching FNL. She, too, became interested in the show and I told her she should start at the beginning. One day, she came home from church and started watching the DVDs. Every couple of hours, she came out of her room to get the next disc. At 2 am, I went to bed but her light was still on. I found out later that she stayed up all night, watched the entire series, then took a shower and went to work Monday morning.
Besides being happy to confess my TV addiction, I write all of this to persuade anyone that reads this to watch this brilliant show! Season 3 starts on NBC in February, so you have time to catch up on DVD or online before then.
Oh - although I already commented - someones comment made me remember a worse story that is really so embarrassing.
Season 7 of Gilmore Girls - the final season - was having its finale and I was going to watch it with a friend. But I was moving that day too and my boyfriend was helping me move all my stuff to a friends. I was suppose to follow him up Malibu Canyon with all my belongings that evening - but opted to stay in Malibu and watch the season finale of Gilmore Girls. My boyfriend pleaded with me to not watch the show and follow him up the canyon - but of course I rebuffed him because this was GILMORE GIRLS - and there was no way I was going to miss this episode. He pouted for the rest of the day - which I just didnt understand why - and went home alone.
After the airing of the season finale - I drove up Malibu Canyon alone and got a call from my parents. Turns out my boyfriend had called and asked "their permission" to ask me to marry him. He was planning on pretending his car had stalled in one of the scenic overviews of the canyon and propose when I pulled over to see what was wrong. Of course, since I watched Gilmore Girls - I missed his proposal and as a result didn't get a surprise planned proposal.
A week later he gave me the ring while cannoning and I tried to reassure myself that this way was so much more romantic and cute than his original plan. But honestly, I had ruined the surprise by being addicted to tv and have always regretted it. And whats worse, he wont ever let me live it down that I chose Gilmore Girls over him.
Hmm, our story might not help, but I consider it pretty low to want so badly the "fix" of checking out of reality that I occasionally would watch reruns of America's Next Top Model. (In addition to The Office, Martha Stewart, Grey's Anatomy, ER, Law and Order SVU, American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, and Colbert Report) Granted, I was pregnant and couldn't sleep but still. It's low. We were sick of wasting the small window of time we have together on the weekends with shows. We canceled cable in September. It was rough with Red Sox playoffs but we really haven't missed it. We do watch The office online almost every Friday night and it is a nice 25 minutes. It was the best decision we ever made. I feel so free. It's like having junk food in the house: if it's there, it will be eaten. If it's not there, no problem.
PS. I hope I will not be judged harshly for watching the obviously racey Grey's Anatomy. It's good. It's a bit trashy. But it's seriously addicting.
i love friday night lights.
I'm definitely an addict. That cartoon is a perfect description of my life. I've even found myself watching a soap opera every now and then because nothing else is on TV.
Our kitchen table (the only piece of furniture we have ever purchased) is rarely used. We eat almost every meal in front of the TV. It's a horrible habit.
Since moving into our own little home, we no longer have the luxury of "cable" or "rabbit ears." This prohibited us from watching television and it has been absolutely wonderful!
Now that most of our favorite shows are available on-line, Todd and I wait until Friday night when all the kids are in bed. We set up the laptop while we snuggle under the covers and fall asleep watching the three shows we like most.
However, now that I have discovered shows on-line, I find myself using the very few spare moments of quiet time during the day sneaking a peek at different shows I never knew existed.
Thankfully you can watch a whole season in 1 hour when it is on-line.
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