Why I Don't Miss Having TV

You may be surprised (unless you pay attention) to know that this movie and TV show connoisseur does not actually have TV. I have a television. But I don't have cable or satellite television provider. I never have. Except for my first apartment and that was only because cable internet/TV was included. 

Growing up, we were more of a computer household than a TV household, thanks largely in part to my brother becoming a computer geek at an early age. We did have TV, though. Some of you may be unfamiliar with the concept of free TV, but it did exist. You just needed a big aerial on your house or a little "bunny ears" antenna on your TV. Ya, some channels were fuzzy, but they were there.

I haven't watched TV on actual live-broadcast TV in a long time. Mostly because nothing good is on. And, also, because any show I want to watch, I download. It's better quality, no commercials and I can watch it anytime I want. Recently the US and Canada made the switch to digital television broadcasting, which means if you want your 'free' TV, you need to buy a digital converter box so you can use your antenna. My parents decided to take the plunge and actually get satellite television. Ooh, such luxuries I never had growing up!

So now, when I visit my parents, I can waste time watching crap TV, which is nice once in a while. But, for the most part, I do not miss having TV at all. Like I said, even before couldn't have free TV, I was barely ever watching it. And there is no way I would pay money to be able to waste my time watching the crap that is all over the channels these days.

It would be a different story if I could get all British TV channels, though. Most of my favorite shows are British. And even their 'crap' shows, like talk shows & reality shows would be fascinating to me. However, if I were to watch TV my options would be mainly American. And that is why I am not bothered that I do not have television access.

Some of the Things Americans Make TV Shows About (both reality & fiction)

Housewives
Teenage mothers
Women who did not realize they were pregnant
Fat people trying to lose weight
Rich private school kids
Child beauty pageants
Rich people
Poor people
Cops chasing idiots
Bounty hunters
People who live in trailer parks
People cooking food
People eating food
People who think they are talented, but are not
People doing their jobs (from tattoo artists to gold miners to cake decorators to sewage workers)
Interior decorating
Birthday parties
Famous people
Not famous people
People who don't clean their homes
People who use coupons
People who won't stop having children
Men with more than one wife
People singing
People dancing
People having babies
Gay people
Straight people
People with secrets

So, mostly, people doing the same regular shit everyone else does.

Alright, so now that I'm done insulting American television, I must say there are a few things I miss about being able to just turn on the telly and have a bunch of useless shows to choose from.

A Few Things I Do Miss About Having TV
Award Shows
It's not worth downloading, like, 5 hours of award show, most of which I don't care about. However, if I had TV and one was on, I'd be interested to see the pretty dresses on the red carpet, the host's jokes and find out the winners, just for the sake of knowing.

Infomercials
Rookie wrote a really good article about this under-appreciated TV genre. I have truly enjoyed weekends and late nights watching infomercials for The Magic Bullet, the H2O Mop, the Tobi, Oxyclean, ShamWow, the Silhouette, various hair straighteners/blow-dryers, Proactiv, Sheer Cover make-up and even some Miracle Water! All of which I want. (Except the Magic Bullet and ShamWow- because I have those!)

Miscellaneous Entertainment List Shows
Those random half-hour shows like "Top Ten Father-Son Actors", "The Role that Changed My Life", "Countdown of the 50 Best Chick Flicks". The forced "narration" by random "celebrity experts" reading off poorly written scripts full of lame puns brings it down a little bit, but I love discovering new movies/TV shows/actors and hearing fun facts about them.

Commercials
Sometimes commercials are really good, okay? Don't tell me you've never laughed at a commercial, talked about it with your friends and maybe even continue to use phrases originating from commercials in your daily life. Oh, is that just me and my lame friends still saying "Good to go!" with the smooth hand movement when we're ready to leave? I admit, I've even been tempted to check out the Superbowl just for the commercials because the Superbowl is like the Oscar season of commercials. They spend millions of dollars on those 30-second productions to entice and entertain the millions of viewers. 

Okay, so, I guess TV and I have a love-hate relationship. I love good shows. I hate bad shows. Yes, there are some things I miss out on seeing/knowing about by not having live television shoved in my face everyday, but- Everything's on the Internet now, anyway, right?