Am I the only one who thinks watching an episode of Lost, CSI,Survivor, etc, is a waste of time?

Question

Almost every day now I hear someone at work, on the train, on the street, or a friend of mine asks me, about the latest episode of "Lost", or "Battlestar Gallactica", or "Dancing with the Stars", or "Survivor", or "CSI", etc. Am I the only one who doesn't spend all my time watching tv? Though I've seen all the above shows at least once, I just can't bring myself to watch any of them on a regular basis. I don't see anything compelling enough or done well enough for me to want to watch week after week. Do people buy into the reality of it all?

I guess I read more than watch tv, but for some reason I feel like when I read a book about something I learn more than watching tv about something. Generally speaking books provide more detail and depth on topics, so why would I want to watch the same thems on tv when I could just read a book that will explore a topic better?

I don't know, HELP!

Answer 1

Of course you're not alone. I certainly agree with you. TV in general is a fairly big waste of time, and of the shows you listed the only one I watch is CSI and I can take it or leave it (ie; I can go months w/out an episode if I don't have time.) I don't subscribe to cable, even.

I don't think, however, that people who are devoted to their TV shows are watching for the reasons you speculated - very few people are watching TV to learn something (although many people think they are learning something by watching science-ey procedurals like CSI or medical dramas like House or Grey's Anatomy, and thus have a warped and glamorized view of the things dramatized therein.)

People watch TV for entertainment and escape, and the people who are inexplicably devoted to what seem sort of pointless shows to you or I have different agendas - some of it's joining in a cultural phenomenon, some of it's fascination with celebrity culture, some of it's just the lure of people behaving oddly (this is the only way I can explain "reality" shows.)

There's nothing wrong with liking a good, well executed, scripted TV show (like Lost or Battlestar Gallactica) and there's nothing wrong with you for not getting hooked on them either. Books excercise the mind and excite the imagination, and I'm in your camp - we're better off for not being hooked on the tube.

Answer 2

I read more than I watch TV too. (I only have 20 channels) but I do watch Survivor and CSI they are good show. I hate dancing with the stars and Lost though. I love the TV show House you haven't lived until you see it.
-So overall I think that people should read good books and watch tv too. You shouldn't do too much of one or the other. You need to have a well balcened life.
(What is Battlestar Gallactica. Is it sorta like Star Trek?)

Answer 3

I'm pretty non-judgmental as to how people choose to spend their time. Everybody has their own level of curiosity, their own level of personal challenge, their own level of stress, and their own personal tastes and it all comes together to inform people's decisions on their hobbies or outlets. I refer to most TV as 'Twinkies for the brain', meaning that it's not particularly good for me, but I still enjoy the novelty and fluffiness of it.

Most television is there to entertain. Does that mean a book isn't entertaining? Of course not, but it's not the passive entertainment experience that TV is. But what TV at its best can do is provoke people to explore more of their world. If watching an episode of Lost and its myriad of conspiracy theories played out couched in some fairly obscure literature and philosophical theories motivates someone to pick up a book by Robert A. Heinlein, then all is not 'Lost', eh? Or if someone watching CSI thinks, "That couldn't happen" and it motivates them to check something out online or at their library, again, that's not so bad!

I don't know that people buy into the reality of it, but most probably the opposite, they are buying into the escapism of it. And part of the allure of escapism is the passive simplicity of it. Feed me my entertainment.

It's not a defense of either watching TV or reading a book. Truthfully, I enjoy both, but I know a lot of people for whom picking up a book is an intimdating prospect. And I also know a few people that wouldn't be caught dead watching most television programming. But maybe this will help give you a different perspective.

Answer 4

I read a lot, but I also watch CSI. I have learned things from both - a lot more from books, to be sure, but there's more to life than learning ALL the time. It's not a waste of time to relax, as relaxation is something that we all need, just as we need challenges to our minds. Just because someone watches an episode or two of something on television doesn't mean they spend "all their time" (to paraphrase your words) doing so. If you don't want to watch something on a regular basis, then dont - but it doesn't mean you're superior (or inferior, for that matter). It's just a personal choice, and everybody likes and needs something different.

Incidentally, you might want to try a locating book on spelling or typing, as it's "galactica."

Answer 5

As for your first question, no, I don't like any of those shows either. I do like to watch TV, though. I like watching movies on A&E, AMC, and TCM, (and occasionally other channels). I also very much enjoy all versions of "Law and Order."

I also read a lot, and I write. However, some of the books I have read are because I saw the movie first--wanted to know more, so read the book. I've also done the opposite--really liked a book, and wanted to see it in all its glory on the screen.

Answer 6

I don't want a lot of TV, myself. I find that much of "Hollywood" is sadly lacking with original ideas in both TV and movies. I'm currently undergoing chemotherapy and sometimes I'm too sick to really focus much on reading; when I get like that, I enjoy reading more simplistic books or even getting out old comic books (The Far Side, Calvin & Hobbes...etc.)

I'm also a writer, so when I'm doing well enough to focus, I'm usually putting effort into my own work. I have to take it when I can get it. :)

Answer 7

You are so right. My personal farvorite show to avoid is "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" TV programming is a joke. If there were more worthwhile programs on prime time network TV I would watch. Why are the network execs so convinced the majority of TV viewers are such idiots? Why do they have to dumb it down? That's what it takes to appeal to the type of people who are dim-witted enough to believe what they see on commercials and go out and buy fast food for their family, miracle diet gimmicks and pills and used cars. If things continue at this rate, Jerry Springer will be President and Judge Judy will be Pope. (Don't even get me started on TV preachers).

Answer 8

Definitely the reality shows anymore are just retarded. I do like some of the dramas like CSI, House, etc, and some of the gameshows on NBC. And American Idol is almost always entertaining.

Answer 9

YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT BOOKS BEING MORE INTERESTING AND MORE INFORMATIVE THAN T.V. DON'T FEEL LEFT OUT. YOU'RE NOT MISSING ANYTHING. IN LIFE BE YOURSELF. DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU HOW TO THINK, OR IN THIS CASE, NOT TO THINK AT ALL.

DESPITE ALL THAT, THERE ARE SOME GOOD CHANNELS ON T.V. THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE PART OF "THE GREAT UNWASHED" TO ENJOY. TRY THE HISTORY CHANNEL, DISCOVER. ANIMAL PLANET (SOMTIMES), AND P.B.S. ALSO, NO SENSE BEING A SNOB EITHER. IF THERE IS AN EXCELLENT MOVIE ON, AND YOU HAVE TIME, BY ALL MEANS WATCH IT.

Answer 10

I totally agree with you. And you forgot to mention that books are always better than the movie. I guess people are so wrapped up in somebody's elses "reality" because they can't deal with their own. I don't think they buy into it but it diverts their attention.

I don't even like American Idol.