Who Does Without TV?

[Edward]

I hate all so-called reality tv with a passion..... network programmrs love it as it's cheap - no scriptwriters to pay, no actors to pay.... and always a plentiful supply of new idiots ready to be exploited. Sometimes I think folks would queue up to sexually abuse a giraffe if they thought it would get them on tv.

The worst of it is how many great stage actors end up out of work here in London because the producers have cast some reality tv moppet because that's what'll sell tickets. Call me elitist if you like, but frankly the sort of folks who only go to the theatre to see 'him off the tv' don't deserve quality theatre. Just such a shame that it ruins it for the rest of us too....

 

[tbrunke]

I have not had cable for over a year and love it; have the TV now for just renting Netflix and most all the DVD's I rent are older black and white movies, or newer "period" films. Plus, it gives me more time to read!

 

[RobStC]

Quite happy without.....

Haven't had television since 1990. Have to say I don't miss it at all. Just prefer reading, conversation, listening to music etc, plus keeping tabs on the Lounge! Don't know when I'd find the time to watch anything if I did have one.....

Living near the centre of Edinburgh as I do, there are three 'art-house' cinemas within about ten minutes walk, so plenty of choice for movies (plus a couple of mainstream multiplex-type thingies, but not usually anything of interest there). Feels like more of an event to go out, too.

Nothing against televisions or those who watch one, just not my cup of tea.

 

[Matthew Verge]

I don't think I have ever not owned a television at all, except for a brief time when I was in university, but I have never had cable, satellite, etc, and have always dealt exclusively with "Peasant Vision", the two channels that come over the air, although I don't watching them. I have my TV for movies, of which I am a huge fan.

90% of what's on TV is garbage, but there are a few good shows! My wife's family have cable, and I've managed to find some things on there worth watching.

I dread the idea of a "TV Family", though. When everybody comes home, drops their things, and sits right down to see what's on TV, it's a little much. Of course, I usually check the computer pretty quick, so I shouldn't talk.

 

[RC]

Mr. RC & I have been quasi-homeless and tv-less since December. (Finally our own roof over our heads again this month - yay!) We do occasionally watch Hulu shoes and various programs from ITunes on my laptop. It's been fascinating to see what we actually watch now that we must either, A. consciously choose and then wait for a program to download/buffer, or B. PAY to watch something. One certainly becomes pickier, and no more plopping down mindlessly just to see what's on.

 

[C-dot]

I have a television, but no cable - I'm using rabbit ears until all TV stations change their signals to digital. But even then I won't succumb to costly digital box bills - Oh no! I have a DVD player for my movies, and any shows I want to watch (which don't air anymore anyway) I can watch on my "shuttle," a small computer which hooks up to my TV.

 

[Widebrim]

One of the good things about owning a vintage TV (mine was made in 1954) is that you aren't tempted to just turn it on as background noise -- it uses up a lot of electricity, it takes a long time to warm up, and tubes don't grow on trees. So you're forced to *think* about what you want to watch, and using it actually becomes an occasion rather than just routine.
Although I *am* tempted to use it more during the winter -- it throws off enough heat to be an effective space heater.

Wow, and I thought I was bad for having a 1984 TV set!lol

 

[Edward]

Mr. RC & I have been quasi-homeless and tv-less since December. (Finally our own roof over our heads again this month - yay!) We do occasionally watch Hulu shoes and various programs from ITunes on my laptop. It's been fascinating to see what we actually watch now that we must either, A. consciously choose and then wait for a program to download/buffer, or B. PAY to watch something. One certainly becomes pickier, and no more plopping down mindlessly just to see what's on.

It's a fair point. I'm in no hurry to get rid of my TV, but I have over the past few years made a concious effort not to switch it on for the sake of it - I try only to watch things that I particularly want to see. The upshot is that I do watch a lot more films now, on DVD (it helps that my local supermarket often has DVDs I am interested in for less than half the price of the local rental place). And yes, I often find things in which I am interested online, which is the one thing that would interest me in an internet-capable TV, there being no way at present for me to view shows from the BBC iplayer or 4OD etc on anything other than my laptop.

 

[Viggen]

No TV since about the time of the digital changover. I had cable so that didn't matter but the darn thing just quite working. Not feeling like it added anything to my life or the family, we just never replaced it. Overall, the home setting seems a bit more relaxed. The box is not missed. For the Super Bowl and the World Cup we can find a sports bar.

 

[Roquentin]

Most television lets me down. I've never been one to get engaged in whatever show is being talked about by everybody the next day. It seems too much work for questionable results. But even channels I used to like seem to have been dumbed down in recent years. Maybe I have my nostalgia goggles on but the Discovery Channel and History Channel used to seem a lot more substantial than they are now.

If Jeopardy's on I'll play along, that's one thing I still do. Sometimes, like this summer, when I have a lot of time to burn, I feel like watching Seinfeld, but I prefer watching on DVD to avoid seeing the same few syndicated episodes over and over. And I'm sometimes impressed by what public TV has to offer.

Soon I'm moving into a university residence, which provides free wireless internet but charges for cable. I'm not bringing a television, and I won't miss it. I'll have Internet and that's more than enough.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I fear I may have regressed. After not having a TV for at least several years I got one last year as I now have housemates who live with me. The only things I watch, as we still don't have cable, is the local news in the morning, reruns of Two and a Half Men and Penn & Teller: Fool Us..

 

[sheeplady]

We own a nice flat screen TV and DVD player. We no longer have broadcast. And we've always been too cheap to pay for cable or netflix (we'd have to pay for cable to get more than one or two stations where we live now. )

With kids what we mostly watch is children's movies. As in the same children's movie every day for two weeks straight. Then a different one for the next two weeks. And by watch, I mean my husband and I no longer pay any attention to them but have subconsciously memorized every line of dialog and lyric.

When you start humming The Care Bear Movie theme song in the shower, you know you're in trouble.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

With kids what we mostly watch is children's movies. As in the same children's movie every day for two weeks straight. Then a different one for the next two weeks. And by watch, I mean my husband and I no longer pay any attention to them but have subconsciously memorized every line of dialog and lyric.

When you start humming The Care Bear Movie theme song in the shower, you know you're in trouble.

Sounds like the scene here at La Maison Brunswick only the song is The Cleanup Song. My two housemates have a two-year-old daughter and I've grown quite familiar with Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Doc McStuffin, her favorite programs.

 

[sheeplady]

Sounds like the scene here at La Maison Brunswick only the song is The Cleanup Song. My two housemates have a two-year-old daughter and I've grown quite familiar with Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Doc McStuffin, her favorite programs.

We're lucky to have avoided the TV shows. Most of the movies we own we purghased before our daughter was born. Things like The Goonies, Monsters Inc, How to Train Your Dragon, The Princess Bride, Wall-e, etc. So thankfully they are Good movies. Good enough we saw them in the theatre (as childless adults) and bought the DVD. But even a good movie gets a little tiresome after 2385 viewings.

The two movies we bought for her were Frozen and The Care Bear Movie. The Care bears was an impulse purchase from the cheap movie bin at Walmart. She adores that movie. Some days I regret that $3.97, let me tell you.

Daniel isn't that bad (we saw him a few times before we moved) but I really loved Mister Rogers as a kid. It's not the same. (I tear up when I see original Mister Rogers episodes.)

 

[Quigley Brown]

I recently moved and didn't take cable TV with me. It's amazing what you can find on the web. Mainly I use it to put me to me asleep at nights.

 

[APP Adrian]

It's 2015, only old timers watch "T.V"

 

[LizzieMaine]

That would be us then. Black and white, with tubes.

 

[APP Adrian]

That would be us then. Black and white, with tubes.

That's interesting, mind telling us more?

I was born in 1995, so I don't have much.

 

[LizzieMaine]

1954 RCA Victor. Salvaged from the town dump in 1986, I installed a new picture tube and replaced the capacitors, and I've been using it ever since. I've also got a 7-inch TV from 1948 in my office for watching the ball game.

 

[Stearmen]

View attachment 34074

1954 RCA Victor. Salvaged from the town dump in 1986, I installed a new picture tube and replaced the capacitors, and I've been using it ever since. I've also got a 7-inch TV from 1948 in my office for watching the ball game.

Do you have to use one of those converters to pick up HD? My days with cable and satellite are numbered! Talking to people in the know, the number of over the air channels, plus the computer and Netflix, just no reason to be tied down.