LIFE WITHOUT TELEVSION?

I don't know if I'm getting sillier as I age, but I've really come to almost to loathe television.

We get it here, I think, mainly because of programs which would be of interest to our grandchildren. Or so we tell ourselves. They don't have television at home. It does teach them, and us, some new things.

But really.

Back in January, Maria (at cats, crafts and penguins) turned a delightful phrase, describing television as "endless commercials interrupted by bad shows." My heart instinctively said, "Yes!"

The thing about television is that it's a one way communication. Unless you yell at it when someone says something stupid. Which means Bear is yelling at the television quite frequently, when he watches it. I don't consider that to be a useful form of communication. Yelling at the tv makes as much impact on the whole television businesses as ants make on dry concrete. And writing to broadcasters only invokes a stale, tired, meaningless "thank you for your comments" letter. To which one is inclined to say, "Bah! Humbug!"

Aside from a few cooking shows which my beloved J sometimes watches, sometimes the weather channel, and occasionally the news, we hardly watch the tv. I mean, what is worth watching? Except when one is too tired to read, but not quite ready for bed. (In which case, almost anything is watchable, unless it produces nightmares after the fact.)

I'm a firm believer in the potential of the medium. Particularly to educate us, to bring us things that challenge our thinking or encourage our values. It brings one "up close and personal" when there is some breaking news. Or a Royal Wedding. Or a state funeral. But even those things tend to be overdone, sometimes. Though they are about the only true "reality tv," more or less

So, some questions.
• How much do you watch tv?
• What kinds of things do you watch?
• Are you satisfied with the quality of the programming you receive?