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Author Topic: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,  (Read 1889 times)

rcjordan

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I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« on: January 03, 2019, 03:46:21 PM »
So it's now been roughly a generation ago that I dropped out of traditional 'entertainment.' I had already quit following sports.  I never really did music. I probably averaged 8-10 movies per year.

I mention this because I now rarely recognize a sports star or celebrity name in the news unless they were iconic.  I'm having to search on celebrity names in the news wondering 'who the hell is THAT? Do I give a damn?'  Yet I know business & political figures and their history better than most, I'd say.

Kinda weird feeling to not know (or much care) what so many others chatter about constantly.

....Now back to my heavily-filtered news reader.

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ukgimp

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2019, 04:12:36 PM »
I try not to read or hear the news. So negative and rarely impacts my life.
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rcjordan

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2019, 04:53:56 PM »
This came up because of the queen's recent conferring titles of honor.  I look for scientific or otherwise significant contributors who are getting recognition.  Most are celebs I could give a rat's derriere about.
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ergophobe

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2019, 07:21:19 PM »
I never followed sports (though my dad spent his career as a coach and university athletic director and brought athletes by the house all the time - Olympic gold medalists, national and world champs, people who went pro, one who has drafted by the NHL and the Majors, he never was much of a spectator and neither am I).

I haven't had broadcast TV since 1988 except for having a roommate for a year who had a TV in his room and used to get me to explain/translate Wayne's World for him (and really didn't have a TV regularly since 1981). Have never had cable TV in my life.

Nevertheless... I used to know all the celebrities simply by running the supermarket tabloid gauntlet every time I bought groceries. More and more, the supermarket has junk food and drink, so I now feel completely out of touch with all celebrity culture.

People are always saying "You know that ad" and I cut them off there. Some protest that I don't even know which add they're talking about and I have to explain that if it ran on TV, I didn't see it.

And sometimes, people have to explain why something is funny. "It's a parody of that ad. You don't remember it?" If it ran after "Mama Mia, I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" then no, I don't "remember" it.
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buckworks

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2019, 07:53:59 PM »
>> except for having a roommate for a year who had a TV

I would happily get rid of TV but my husband won't.

I therefore see quite a bit of TV by default but I am never, ever the one who turns it on.
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ergophobe

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2019, 08:05:23 PM »
People think I don't have TV (I have *a* TV for movies, etc, but it receives 0 channels) because I think what's on TV is crap, which I do for the most part.

But I actually don't have it because it would be like chocolate... I shouldn't, but I would
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Brad

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2019, 08:15:57 PM »
I have an antenna but I never use it.  Local newspaper, reading some news on the internets are it for news over the last year or two.  Broadcast TV is worthless to me.  I do stream some shows via Mhz Choice and Acorn but that's about it. 

I do get radio/jabbernet news:  Alexa plays my news briefing at meals and I listen to some news in the cars when driving.
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BoL

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #7 on: January 03, 2019, 09:42:53 PM »
Quote
queen's recent conferring titles of honor

There's a guy in my town that got an honour which to be fair is deserved, one of the earlier diagnosis of Tourette's Syndrome (John Davidson) whose spent a lot of time promoting awareness.

I haven't watched much TV the past 10 years. I watch a bit sport but don't subscribe to anything. It'll be interesting times when 'tv is dead'. One of the interesting things I noticed is early in my life, a majority of the population would be watching TV specials at Christmas time, something that everyone had saw and could speak about. Nowadays with online it's custom made, every man is an island. Interesting times from the society PoV.
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Rupert

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2019, 08:35:31 AM »
I think we are all from a similar gene pool.
Little interest in sport or celebs.

We do stream.  or we buy DVDs, so movies are watched. We have an aerial, but never us it. (I lie.... Christmas day we watched the Queen as a family.  Mum was with us, and she loves her. As broadband was down, the TV was sat on a sofa, and the aerial plugged in specially for the occasion)

For society I spotted this in the UK. 
https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a25682371/christmas-day-2018-viewing-figures-bbc-itv/

On a side note, I saw Michael MacIntyre live.  He is very funny. imho.  glad I don't live with him though :)
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grnidone

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2019, 07:30:38 PM »
I haven't had cable since 1989 when I left for college.  If I do watch anything (rarely), I'll grab bittorrents.

In fact, I only watched Game of Thrones because Jason Duke's then girlfriend told me her step sister (cousin?) was the body double for naked Cersei walk.  (She did a great performance, BTW.)
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martinibuster

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2019, 08:31:05 AM »
I quit watching TV in the 1980's.  Until the past few years.

We are currently in a golden age of TV.  David Lynch noted that streaming television has allowed creators to create films that are 20 hours long that create worlds as opposed to the 90 minute movies that limited the narrative to essentially short stories. So it's the difference in experience between reading a novel and a short story.

Made for streaming TV is generally more substantial than actual movies.

The last version of Twin Peaks was mind blowing. I would characterize it as entertaining art.

Man in the High Castle is a commentary/reflection on today's splintered reality. People today are literally walking around in personal realities that are different than yours. They might as well be living in a different galaxy.

Films like Man in the High Castle, Counterpart, Dark, are products of today's reality.

Dark is a film/series from Germany that is about a time anomaly.

Stranger Things is a movie about alternate realities as well. But also an 80's nostalgia thing. A LOT of fun. It's an example of the kind of TV that has never existed ever. This is why today is a golden age of film on TV.

Killing Eve is a smart cat and mouse spy thriller (and lightly comedic) show.

ORPHAN BLACK is a smart sci fi about genetic cloning. 

REMEMBER ME, starring Michael Palin is an entertaining ghost story.

RICK AND MORTY is a brainy animated sci fi comedy.

THE STRAIN was a Guillermo Del Toro novel set to four season limited series about vampirism reimagined as a viral infection.

The first three seasons of THE WALKING DEAD were so thrilling and engrossing that I had dreams about it.

American Gods, a streaming version of a Neil Gaiman book is simply amazing story telling.

Yes, I still read.

An hour a night for some quality streaming storytelling around the fire suits me fine.

That said, I still refuse to watch sitcoms. Everytime my family gets me to watch something like Seinfeld on video I feel disgusted with myself for having wasted a half hour of my life, regardless of how funny the story was. Sitcoms are candy for the brain. So I step out of the room when a sitcom is playing in my home.

 
« Last Edit: January 06, 2019, 08:44:56 AM by martinibuster »
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Drastic

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2019, 04:12:04 PM »
It's ok y'all. I'm taking up the slack. Bigtime.

Media is so much easier to find and consume these days, commercial free, and I really never have time to watch it but I still manage to.
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ergophobe

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #12 on: February 08, 2019, 04:52:24 PM »
Quote from: martinibuster on January 06, 2019, 08:31:05 AM
I quit watching TV in the 1980's.  Until the past few years.

I've started streaming too, for the reasons you mention. A good show now allows for plot and character development in a way that a movie just doesn't.

That said, the real reason I watch a show many nights is because it's the way we signal the end of the work day. It's like weaning us off the computers so we can relax HHH
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Drastic

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Re: I quit watching TV 20+ years ago,
« Reply #13 on: February 09, 2019, 08:35:16 PM »
>It's like weaning us off the computers so we can relax HHH

This, so much. I have exactly 0 energy and effort to find something and when I do, I'm locked.
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