My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
But almost worth considering......
Dec 29th 2008, 7:14 pm
#32
Unmitigated Gall
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Joined: Dec 2006
Location: it's still too dark to tell
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Re: My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
All that Ken Burns stuff? Netflix. I used to like Antiques Roadshow, but now that it's gone I don't really miss it. My kids are too old now for the Sesame Street stuff and the Teletubbies freaked me out anyway.
Dec 29th 2008, 7:15 pm
#33
Unmitigated Gall
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Joined: Dec 2006
Location: it's still too dark to tell
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Dec 29th 2008, 7:15 pm
#34
Banned
Joined: Oct 2004
Location: Santa Monica,CA from Birmingham, UK
Posts: 18,402
Re: My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
To be more specific and in no particular order...
I don't like the ads. (Shamwow? That guy with the mullet selling gym equipment? That screaming guy that sells cleaners?
) If you really listen to the verbage on some of these ads it makes no sense at all. Try really listening to it as though you were reading it on a printed page. They operate on the assumption that you are an easily manipulated idiot and that insults me.
The "News". Local news is a joke. The first 15 minutes is a recitation of the day's tragic deaths/murders/horrible/sensational crimes (and that's just the political events) followed by the weather that may or may not be accurate. National news is the same on a larger scale with a little more political bias added for flavor.
Entertainment. There are a few decent shows, they're not all horrible. Kid's programming is probably the worst, followed by the "reality" crap. What's that most recent one where the guy's mothers are trying to hook them up with various sluts? It seems like the rest are all cop shows or hospital shows dealing with yet more murder, rape etc... in graphic detail.
PBS. I used to like it. We don't get it where we live.
Alternatives. For weather and news I have the internet. Yep, there's still bias but I have a much wider range of choices and I am in control of what I want to see. I can dig around and look at all three sides of a story and then get different perspectives on it. I don't have to sit through 20 minutes of crap and commercials to get to the one story I was interested in. For emergency weather I have a weather radio. I also have a satellite radio that has a weather and traffic channel for my area 24/7. For entertainment we have books (My 10yo son reads at a 10th grade level and my 8yo daughter reads at a 7th grade level, both I believe are due to the very limited amount of TV they watch leaving plenty of time for reading) board games (my daughter likes Monopoly and my son just got Axis and Allies for Christmas) or just playing outside. We play all kinds of music on the sat. radio. I also use it to listen to BBC world service on the way to work in the morning and music on the way home. I bought a Wii for Christmas which surprised the hell out of my wife because I was anti video game as much as I was anti TV. I figured that at least with the Wii they have to move and use some hand/eye coordination. For movies we have Netflix where we can get all kinds of cool documentaries as well as more mainstream type movies and TV shows. That's in addition to the pretty good collection of DVDs/VHS here at the house.
To sum it up I'd say that everything good about TV is available elsewhere without having to take the bad along with it, and all in all, there are better things to do than park your arse in front of the box. When my kids are visiting my parents who have digital cable they are like zombies in front of the box, you have to snap your fingers in front of them to get their attention away from it.
I don't like the ads. (Shamwow? That guy with the mullet selling gym equipment? That screaming guy that sells cleaners?
) If you really listen to the verbage on some of these ads it makes no sense at all. Try really listening to it as though you were reading it on a printed page. They operate on the assumption that you are an easily manipulated idiot and that insults me.The "News". Local news is a joke. The first 15 minutes is a recitation of the day's tragic deaths/murders/horrible/sensational crimes (and that's just the political events) followed by the weather that may or may not be accurate. National news is the same on a larger scale with a little more political bias added for flavor.
Entertainment. There are a few decent shows, they're not all horrible. Kid's programming is probably the worst, followed by the "reality" crap. What's that most recent one where the guy's mothers are trying to hook them up with various sluts? It seems like the rest are all cop shows or hospital shows dealing with yet more murder, rape etc... in graphic detail.
PBS. I used to like it. We don't get it where we live.
Alternatives. For weather and news I have the internet. Yep, there's still bias but I have a much wider range of choices and I am in control of what I want to see. I can dig around and look at all three sides of a story and then get different perspectives on it. I don't have to sit through 20 minutes of crap and commercials to get to the one story I was interested in. For emergency weather I have a weather radio. I also have a satellite radio that has a weather and traffic channel for my area 24/7. For entertainment we have books (My 10yo son reads at a 10th grade level and my 8yo daughter reads at a 7th grade level, both I believe are due to the very limited amount of TV they watch leaving plenty of time for reading) board games (my daughter likes Monopoly and my son just got Axis and Allies for Christmas) or just playing outside. We play all kinds of music on the sat. radio. I also use it to listen to BBC world service on the way to work in the morning and music on the way home. I bought a Wii for Christmas which surprised the hell out of my wife because I was anti video game as much as I was anti TV. I figured that at least with the Wii they have to move and use some hand/eye coordination. For movies we have Netflix where we can get all kinds of cool documentaries as well as more mainstream type movies and TV shows. That's in addition to the pretty good collection of DVDs/VHS here at the house.
To sum it up I'd say that everything good about TV is available elsewhere without having to take the bad along with it, and all in all, there are better things to do than park your arse in front of the box. When my kids are visiting my parents who have digital cable they are like zombies in front of the box, you have to snap your fingers in front of them to get their attention away from it.
Personally I select what I want to watch. As I said about 50% of my TV is British TV downloaded from the internet and networked to play through my X-Box.
We have PBS, The Sundance Channel and HBO which offers a lot of documentaries and movies if I can't find anything to download from UKNova.
Local news is a joke so I DVR the BBC news which is broadcast twice a day on PBS, not an option for you I know.
If I do watch Network TV it's a few shows that I generally DVR and watch after the kids are in bed without ads.
I like some of the reality shows such as Survivor and The Amazing Race, both offer entertainment and education on human nature and world travel ( I say that lightly but with a degree of truth).
Having said all this I would hardly describe myself as being anywhere near anti-TV I use it selectively as a form of entertainment and education.
Dec 29th 2008, 7:15 pm
#35
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 68,280
Re: My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
You need to watch Norman Wisdom films
I don't want to.
Dec 29th 2008, 7:26 pm
#37
Unmitigated Gall
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: it's still too dark to tell
Posts: 16,162
Dec 29th 2008, 7:26 pm
#38
Sursum corda
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Richmond Hill, GA USA
Posts: 38,860
Dec 29th 2008, 7:27 pm
#39
Not here much
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Highland Park, NJ
Posts: 2,452
Re: My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
Dec 29th 2008, 7:28 pm
#40
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Oct 2003
Location: My Old KY Home!
Posts: 6,498
Re: My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
The cranky, drug addict, self-centered bastard of a doctor cracks me up. 
Am actually getting the dvd's from Netflix in case there are episodes we've missed.
Dec 29th 2008, 7:32 pm
#41
Banned
Joined: Oct 2004
Location: Santa Monica,CA from Birmingham, UK
Posts: 18,402
Re: My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
I must say I don't watch any of the mainstream network TV shows I see people posting about here.
Never seen House, Desperate Housewives, 24, CSI ( in whatever city), Heroes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Murphy Brown or any of those comedies they are endlessly advertising such as 2 1/2 men, Will & Grace, The King of Queens etc. etc. etc.
Thumbs up for 60 Minutes & Jeopardy
Never seen House, Desperate Housewives, 24, CSI ( in whatever city), Heroes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Murphy Brown or any of those comedies they are endlessly advertising such as 2 1/2 men, Will & Grace, The King of Queens etc. etc. etc.
Thumbs up for 60 Minutes & Jeopardy
Dec 29th 2008, 7:35 pm
#42
Not here much
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Highland Park, NJ
Posts: 2,452
Re: My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
I must say I don't watch any of the mainstream network TV shows I see people posting about here.
Never seen House, Desperate Housewives, 24, CSI ( in whatever city), Heroes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Murphy Brown or any of those comedies they are endlessly advertising such as 2 1/2 men, Will & Grace, The King of Queens etc. etc. etc.
Thumbs up for 60 Minutes & Jeopardy
Never seen House, Desperate Housewives, 24, CSI ( in whatever city), Heroes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Murphy Brown or any of those comedies they are endlessly advertising such as 2 1/2 men, Will & Grace, The King of Queens etc. etc. etc.
Thumbs up for 60 Minutes & Jeopardy
Dec 29th 2008, 7:37 pm
#43
Banned
Joined: Oct 2004
Location: Santa Monica,CA from Birmingham, UK
Posts: 18,402
Re: My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
Dec 29th 2008, 7:39 pm
#44
WTF?
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Homeostasis
Posts: 79,367
Re: My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
Me too!!!! Actually it started a couple of weeks ago (when my evil sister came for my pie sister's graduation) when they were having a House marathon on one of the cable channels. Since she likes House and since she commandeers the remote wherever she goes - we watched House. I carried on by watching the Christmas marathons and in less than a month I've watched about 3,000 episodes of House. 
I really need to get back to classes.
I really need to get back to classes.
Dec 29th 2008, 7:39 pm
#45
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 68,280
Re: My Wife is ready to try something I've wanted for a long time.
Ali McBeal