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Do you even bother with TV anymore?

Sett
polycounter lvl 18
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Sett polycounter lvl 18
I find now that there is nothing to watch anymore. Aside from the evening news, Nova, Frontline and TVO (local public tv) there is just little that holds my interest. Even old faves like The Simpsons have played out.

All my friends ask me when I'm going to buy a huge flat screen, the wife wants cable- why? to watch what? Movies we rent, the console I never play anymore. (PS2 was the last console I'll buy) We had pir8 US sat. I even owned an unlooper for the card (sat. went down- into the reader- l/d .bin, boom up again in less than a minute) 150 odd channels of nothing! after awhile I just could be arsed to unloop anymore. Also the American commercial breaks were just endless.


I find I spend most my nights working on my 3d "art" stuff, gaming or lots and lots of reading forums. I find much to read on Something Awful.


You can take my TV but you will pry the net from my cold dead hands!!!1!

Replies

  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    I haven't watched TV for months.
  • ElysiumGX
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    ElysiumGX polycounter lvl 18
    I've hardly watched TV since May 2001. For a while my girl and I watched Alias and The Practise (only the episodes with James Spader). That changed. Usually I'll try to catch Family Guy. But it's not a big deal. If I miss it, I simply download it. I plan on buying the DVD anyway.

    I tried catching a few reality TV shows just to see what the big deal was. I've concluded that people who enjoy reality TV are mentally challenged.

    Sometimes I visit my parents for free dinner and the TV is on. Mtv is pure shit now. Isn't there another called FUSE? I watched a Green Day video, and all 5 videos after it looked exactly the same.

    My grandma watches Oprah and Lifetime. Oprah and Lifetime much be destroyed.

    I only use the TV for movies and Gamecube now.
  • Rick Stirling
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    Rick Stirling polycounter lvl 18
    You guys don't get Shameless, do you? That is stunning TV. Apart from the News (BBC or Channel 4, ITV is dumbed down for the LCD) the TV is there for gaming and DVDS.

    But its the summer! You don't want to be stuck inside watching TV anyway. Get out and see the worlds, get to the theatre, go to some gigs, take up dancing, go for a walk, go to the pub with mates.
  • HonkyPunch
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    HonkyPunch polycounter lvl 18
    Yeah, tv kinda sucks lately, shitty shows have popped up on my favorite older channels. Mostly, I watch Spike TV (maximum exposure, real tv, Lance Krall show) Comedy Central (South Park, Mad tv, Comedy Central Presents, stella) Discovery Channel (Myth Busters, and the occasional good looking special.)
  • Neo_God
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    Neo_God polycounter lvl 18
    I watch about as much Tv as I always have, maybe a little bit less. I mean, I watch all the non-anime shows on adult swim, Daily Show, Simpsons, Arrested Development. I also love watching the movie channels, and I need my IFC and Sundance, haha. I'll also watch SciFi, because the scifi original movies are like crack, they're so bad that they're good (Such as the Bruce Campbell movie Alien Apocalypse, my god it was beyond terrible, but I would watch it again if it were one)
  • HonkyPunch
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    HonkyPunch polycounter lvl 18
    oh, i watch adult swim, too. And, damn, Forgot the Daily Show.(that show rules)
  • lkraan
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    lkraan polycounter lvl 18
    I don't watch a whole lot of TV but do like to see the news every day and I do enjoy some series that were on like the Office, Sopranos, West Wing, Taken and South Park.
  • Toomas
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    Toomas polycounter lvl 18
    I watch Formula 1 and thats about it.
  • KDR_11k
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    KDR_11k polycounter lvl 18
    Last time I watched TV was when I read on this board about the London bombings and wanted to see if TV had anything to contribute. Strangely here in Bavaria CNN has the frequency ARD used to have back home. IOW, my "first channel" is CNN now. Utterly worthless compared to ARD. I only use it for the GC and PS2 anymore and haven't touched the GC in a while, because Sony in their neverending wisdom decided that noone wants a power switch on a PS2 (70k) anyway I have to unplug the PS2 whenever I want to use the GC because the PS2 blocks the audio on my SCART hub even when that piece of shit is in standby. That plugging around is too annoying to switch consoles often.
  • poopinmymouth
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    poopinmymouth polycounter lvl 19
    I haven't watched TV since I entered college. I've been in the same room as a TV, but I never turn it on myself, or sit down to watch a show. I guess that's been five years now. The few times I do see a bit of it, I realize how glad I am I've left it behind. I even use my computer monitor to play xbox games. TV = The Devil. Commercials are even worse.
  • nitzmoff
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    nitzmoff polycounter lvl 18
    Iron Chef (jap.) and Family Guy only. I catch the news on the BBC in my car to and from work.
  • flaagan
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    flaagan polycounter lvl 18
    i've got my tv on alost all the time when i'm home.
    i tend to watch History, Discovery, TLC (when rides or overhaulin is on), cartoon network (adult swim), spike tv... and that's usually it.
    a good combination of mind stimulation and entertainment.
  • Jeff Parrott
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    Jeff Parrott polycounter lvl 19
    I used to with the help of

    http://cfl.mybrighthouse.com/services/pvr/

    paid $20 a month for a HD-DVR. It was really nice to record the Daily Show or whatever and watch it when I had time. Our condo place here in LA forces you to have DirectTV. Hopefully in a few months we'll move and I can get it again. I really don't like buying equipment like the DVR thing.
  • hawken
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    hawken polycounter lvl 19
    I DL what I want to watch.
  • Neo_God
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    Neo_God polycounter lvl 18
    Just wondering Hawken, even though you say you don't watch it, but is japanese television over crowded with poorly dubbed US Cartoons?
  • Thegodzero
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    Thegodzero polycounter lvl 18
    I watch Scifi friday, and adult swim, Dailyshow, Some HGTV with the girlfriend, and science or technolgy specials on pbs/disc/TLC which ever will show one. I love science and used to love to watch discovery channel, but now i cant stand that channel. I guess now there is a chanel called disc science, but its on digitl cable.
  • swampbug
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    swampbug polycounter lvl 18
    I dont get cable at my appartment. Too much of a distraction. Therefor I just rent movies, and watch Family Guy on the staticy antenna.


    Network TV as a whole is the DEVIL. Crap reality shows, crap commercials. The only good things are latenight shows (conan) and family guy


    I'd glad i dont watch too much TV or have cable, or I'd be sitting there flipping stations for hours.
  • sundance
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    sundance polycounter lvl 18
    i watch enterprise (three weeks left *sob*), joey and the reruns of New Captain Scarlet, which i actually tape since i'm at work when it's on.
  • killingpeople
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    killingpeople polycounter lvl 18
    i haven't watch tv in years.
  • Kevin Johnstone
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    Kevin Johnstone polycounter lvl 19
    I haven't really watched it in years and haven't even had it in the house for the last couple of years.

    I think I will get TV again in a couple of years for my daughter though as just because I had the idiot box doesn't mean she has to be unable to relate to all the other little junior consumers at school wink.gif

    r.
  • Weiser_Cain
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    Weiser_Cain polycounter lvl 18
    I watch food tv, various news feeds, home repair and crafts shows, and the science channel. Oh and lots of anime. I watch it through my tv card so I can multitask unless the show is good enough to demand my full attention.
    If I were you I'd get the cable for the wife and just keep doing my own thing.
  • danr
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    danr interpolator
    Tog Gear and the news. That's it, pretty much - and Top Gear's only on for about 10 weeks in the year. There's the occasional new comedy series that's really good and i'll make an effort to switch on for (Help, Nighty Night), but these are getting thinner and thinner on the ground.

    If i can find 30 minutes in a week that i actually *want to watch, i think i'm doing really well.
  • Keg
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    Keg polycounter lvl 18
    I maybe watch the "news" once and awhile and hockey night in canada when hockey finally returns. The rest I download mainly cause it's mostly anime I watch. Shows like Doctor Who and family guy I generally download because of hdtv res and formating is nicer plus no commercials.
  • peanut™
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    peanut™ polycounter lvl 19
    Stopped watching tv around 2000

    I still have vage memories of what it was at the time.
  • oXYnary
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    oXYnary polycounter lvl 18
    No TV. It hard though finding roomates that dont watch it either. Especially woman.
  • Mishra
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    Mishra polycounter lvl 18
    my tv is always on but i dont really "watch" it so much as its just on. daily show, south park, adult swim, mythbusters, if a good movies on ill watch that.
  • Ruz
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    Ruz polycount lvl 666
    Tv is donkeys arse these days
  • hawken
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    hawken polycounter lvl 19
    [ QUOTE ]
    Just wondering Hawken, even though you say you don't watch it, but is japanese television over crowded with poorly dubbed US Cartoons?

    [/ QUOTE ]

    I won't mention where, but I only DL TV that seems interesting. Soon most channels will start offering this service, but obviously not as torrents. The scary things is that once the BBC or Channel4 launch their services I'll be willing to pay a subscription.

    As for Japanese TV, it's mostly about food. I did have cable in the common room at my old place. That was mostly about food too. I understand your joke though. And yes, they are playing that starwars cartoon at the moment. My Japanese TV isn't a bilingual model, and I hardly have it on (after I re-arranged my room the cable wasn't long enough). I was advised from a friend that watching Japanese TV would improve my language skills. It's too annoying to watch, or even have on in the background.

    This thread is fucking interesting. I always suspected creatives never watch the box. It's true!!

    I went for about 4 years without TV. I only used it for my Amigas 500/1200. Trying to tell the court that was another matter.
    I got taken to court for refusing to pay my TV license back in '98.

    However, in '03 I went out and bought a state of the art widescreen Sony TV, surround sound kit, freeview box, a ton of consoles, a divx HDD TV recorder from KiSS etc.

    Still got all that shit in the UK. Gathering dust. That is what a bloated sallary does to one. Oh I thank my lucky stars I'm poor now!!!
  • Isis' Minion
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    Isis' Minion polycounter lvl 18
    Only watch CSI and Las Vegas occasionally, when i'm at my mom's. I watch anime as well, but not on the tv, so i guess that doesnt really count. At my student room the tv only collects dust, because it's a bother to plug in the cable (light has to be on in order for the power to work, cable crosses a door confused.gif )

    They should come up with a new system for tv. Everybody got tired of ads and i, myself, am having a hard time to find a good show on tv. The only stuff i watch when it's on is:
    -Scrubs (got taken off dutch tv)
    -Family Guy (got taken off dutch tv)
    -CSI and Las Vegas (my sis likes these two a lot, it's always nice to watch it with her, to 'socialise')
    -Anything interesting on Discovery

    I guess i turn on the tv from time to time when i'm totally bored but don't feel like going to bed yet. Sometimes i fire up Solitaire or single player Q3, at other times it's tv. Don't know why really, guess it's a force of habit.

    Though i don't think it's strange that people don't bother with tv any more. Games and the internet are much more interactive and you can get what you want and get it when you want.
  • Mark Dygert
    I have a TV, it plays console games, DVD's and is a GREAT dust magnet.
  • danr
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    danr interpolator
    [ QUOTE ]
    This thread is fucking interesting. I always suspected creatives never watch the box. It's true!!

    [/ QUOTE ]

    Hawken - don't be mistaken, i'd watch TV all the time if there was something on ... i bet the same goes for a lot of others

    by "something on" i mean how it used to be. A couple of hours of new-ish comedy on BBC2 on Tuesday and/or Thursday nights. A good american sci-fi or thriller series after that, but NOT 4 solid fucking hours of it which is what we get now. A Hammer horror film on BBC1 at 11.10pm on Friday. A mindless bollocks film on Saturday evenings, followed by a good one on C4 on Sunday, 10pm. Wednesdays and Mondays were always dead on telly - hence these are traditionally the nights for pub quizzes, so no complaints there.
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    I have comcast digital cable and I'm throwing money down the drain, since I haven't really watched TV since I moved to the States 5 years ago. Maybe some BBC America once in a blue moon, but that's about it.
  • hawken
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    hawken polycounter lvl 19
    danr, you should get freeview mate. Beeb3 is a good watch, the structuring takes a little getting used to, but it's cracking out good stuff non the less.

    Sunday afternoon TV on 4 always got my vote. You couldn't prise me off the sofa for love or money.
  • Rhinokey
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    Rhinokey polycounter lvl 18
    i watch wwe on mon an thursdays, tho not as religiously as i used to, tune into adult swim when i rember, sometimes when i get bored of being on the computer i turn on spike and watch CSI its like ALWAYS on.

    a few weeks ago i stumbled across an episode of "Angel" that i found interesting so i went out and got all 5 seasons on dvd, half way thru the last season, pretty decent series, season 4 was by far the strongest it was the only one that was one continuing story, all the others were pretty much sepperate storrys but had an underlying story that continued.
  • JO420
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    JO420 polycounter lvl 18
    i rarely watch tv also,mainly daily show and cartoon network.

    but its with good reason.

    1.all the new channels as well as evening news are mainly entertainment stories, the cables news are all pundits spouting hate and extended stories on micheal jackson or some rich upper class child who got kidnapped its rare to see real journalisim on tv.

    2.reality shows-christ how i loathe these shows,get boring/uninteresting people and put them on tv or even worse assholes on tv,i deal with real life assholes in real life whats makes them think i want to see them on tv.

    3. cable tv 95% of it is crap,pure and utter crap


    after that there isnt much i really want to see.
  • Thermidor
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    Thermidor polycounter lvl 18
    [ QUOTE ]
    take up dancing

    [/ QUOTE ]

    Ive gota see your moves Rick.

    Yes , advertising has pretty much destoryed TV for me , and the odd time there is somthing to watch on BBC i always forget ... I even hate the news because its no where near being impatial, or informed.

    the tv in the lounge belonges to the ps2 (im too poor to afford othergames systems)

    I do somtimes watch big brother tho , which is sad ...
  • kleinluka
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    kleinluka polycounter lvl 18
    the only reason why i'd watch TV is 24 and family guy.

    both of which i can also get from the good old internets.
  • Isis' Minion
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    Isis' Minion polycounter lvl 18
    Yeah, what the hell is up with all the reality shows anyways? Don't people have their own lives to live and their own shit to put up with. Why spend time watching other people's problems?

    I guess it's like that Jamba ringtone crap. Everyone hates it, but somehow it's very succesfull.

    And another thing i hate about reality shows is that they tend to put people in a situation that FORCES friction between people, resulting in a fight or whatever. Stuff like Temptation Island...What's the point? And why are these people retarded enough to even sign up for the show? You'll probably end up making a total ass out of yourself in front of the whole country and if you cheat on your partner, you'll be nationally dubbed as a jerk...
  • snemmy
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    snemmy polycounter lvl 18
    we are now a "Neilson Family" and just got our ratings book in the post today, er.. mail.. (framing my mind to read Harry Potter tomorrow and have been following some 'british' game guides today) even though we dont have cable or really watch movies too often.

    havent watched cable tv since December when i moved in with my gf. cable tv is just too expensive for us right now and really besides Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, Food Network and the like there's nothing worth watching.

    i havent watched the big four(NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX) since Duchovny was leaving XFiles on FOX and the other three i havent watched since TGIF was huge back in the late 80s/early 90s.

    the only thing i really miss is Adult Swim frown.gif
  • sundance
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    sundance polycounter lvl 18
    what is this 'adult swim'?
  • drakino
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    drakino polycounter lvl 18
    For me, my HDTV set sees tons more use as a video game monitor (computer and console) then anything else. Next up in usage is DVDs, then lastly is the occasional TV show.

    I find I watch The Daily Show, Mythbusters, 24, Battlestar Galactica, Family Guy, some Aduly Swim, and will record Iron Chef for background. Nothing beyond that really interests me much, and if I didn't have a PVR, it's likely I wouldn't watch anything at all. TV on my schedule is nice, not on the networks schedule.

    Back when I had Voom, I'd turn on the Lab channel for background while working on the laptop. It was a HD channel that broadcast miscalenous music like videos, mostly electronic music and art project things instead of people singing. Voom was also nice for HD hockey games, and a good selection of movies transfered to an HD format. Once they died though, I found myself less then thrilled with normal cable TV.

    Ny news these days comes from a subscription to the BBC broadband streaming service. The last straw for me was wanting more info on the London attacks, and turning on "Headline News" to see some political talk show. It seems CNN dumped the idea of a full 24 hour news network now. Back with Voom, they had a 24 hour HDNews channel that had a 7 minute rotation of top stories and the US weather. They showed very little bias and simply reported on things, like a news channel should.
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