Television has become a rarity in my life.
A television sits atop a dresser in my room, but for most of the day it sits silently, gathering dust. I watch 30 minutes of CNN in the morning, and if I'm lucky I can catch an episode of "The Simpsons" at dinner. I'll then try watching CNN again before I go to bed. I have roughly 40 channels but watch only about three or four of them regularly. Part of the reason is that I don't have the time to flip around the tube. But also I rarely find anything I want to watch.
I used to like watching the Travel Channel, but lately it's turned into one big commercial for the gaming industry. If I ever strike it rich then I can stay in the penthouse at the Venetian that I've seen a dozen times, but until then I have take a seat next to the retired couple at the slot machines who are constantly being quoted about how wonderful Vegas is.
I gave up on MTV long ago. You might still be able to catch some innovative music by groups such as Coldplay or Pearl Jam; but tune in during the day and you're likely to catch Carson Daly touting another bubble gum rehash.
CNN is always reliable viewing, but even that's becoming a burden. If I want to read the news, I'll pick up a newspaper, instead of trying to look at three tickers at the same time.
After "Seinfeld" I never really latched to any new sitcoms. The TV schedule remains a mystery to me. The only network television I watch anymore is Fox's Sunday night line-up of cartoons. Even though "The Simpsons" has had some writing deficiencies the past few years, I can always count on it for a few laughs.
I'm told that HBO is home to some of today's best television, but I wouldn't know since I don't have the $19.95 a month to enjoy it. So I've only seen only a handful of episodes of "The Sopranos," "Sex in the City" and "Six Feet Under." One of my big projects in life, that I'd eventually like to work on, is renting all the DVDs for these shows and catching up on my pop culture.
One of the big problems with today's shows is that they require too much commitment. In order to fully appreciate "The Sopranos" you almost need to have been a faithful viewer from the start. Even reality shows entail a good deal of dedication to understand the soap operaesque machinations, dealings and politics of the characters and plot. In the case of "Joe Millionaire" they had to have a one-hour recap during the last episode before he could announce his selection.
What made programs such as "I Love Lucy," "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Cheers" so great was that each individual episode stood well on its own merits. You could tune halfway during the fifth season and two episodes later be screaming "Nooorrrmm," with delight.
I don't want to be led through some complex love triangle on "Friends." Most of the time I just want to be entertained for 30 minutes. One of the reasons I loved "Seinfeld" so much is that producers always avoided making any profound statements.
I still cherish my television. How can I complain about hours of free entertainment? I just need less to choose from.
Write to Robert at
rclopez@bsu.edu
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