It has been over one year since we've watched television.

[davann]

Great for you Shaw! I ditched watching on regular basis a couple a years back. It not like I am a zealot or nothing but I generally avoid tv. Now the computer on the other hand...

[Branlin]

We stopped paying for satellite TV almost 3 years ago and it's been great.  We have had netflix since 1999 (yes, I was one of the first) and I like to rent and copy (OH NO !!!) TV series to watch later.  Our home internet is DSL and office is cable (but we don't have TV at the office either).  I feel like we get so much more done and have a much better time together without that damn TV; and when we travel, I'm amazed at the amount of commercial BS one has to watch along with the programs...

As I mentioned elsewhere, I grew up in a strict Christian home. My parents never had a TV, because they shunned popular culture/Hollywood etc. It sucked growing up that way, but looking back on it, it actually was a good thing. Visitors to our home were always given undivided attention, instead of someone being distracted by a blaring TV. As a family, we interacted with each other constantly instead of being zombied out staring at the TV. These were all positives, IMO, and cannot be duplicated with a TV in the house. It just changes whole atmosphere.

One of my nieces commented once how great it was to go to "Grandma's house" because it was always so quiet there and you could sit and have a nice conversation. I've had new GFs come to my home and were horrified that the TV wasn't on (because of my upbringing, my TV is *never* on if I have guests). It was "too quiet" for them, lol. We were forced to actually chat and get to know each other. You can probably learn more about someone in a half hour of chatting with no TV on than you would in several hours if it was on.

TV addicts (people who must always have it on) should try this experiment. Just shut if off some evening and find something else to do with your family members. You will talk, you can play games together, make snacks together, etc. After an evening of that, if the withdrawal is not too severe, I guarantee you will all feel closer.

[Riddler]

We still watch TV shows, mind you. We just buy the seasons when they come out. Better that way anyhow. Who wants to wait a week to see what happens next?

cheating.
= whole thread moot.
it's like saying, ''we don't ''watch regular TV'', we just leave it on the one channel that has our favorite show(s)''

[hellbilly]

*Eyes computer suspiciously*

No need to do that, I'm serious. We do have basic cable, but I rarely watch it. There's one good B-Movie show on public access once a week or so that I sometimes watch but otherwise I don't.

We also have Netflix. Watched "Day of the Triffids" recently which was great.

[mrapplecastle]

I find something I might want to watch "on TV"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg46DWI_fCE

[John Shaw]

Watched "Day of the Triffids" recently which was great.

Original or that BBC miniseries with Eddie Izzard?

Both were pretty tight, but I preferred the B&W.

[John Shaw]

I find something I might want to watch "on TV"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg46DWI_fCE

Yeah. Gonna irritate the shit outta me that I have to wait for the season to come out.

[hellbilly]

Watched "Day of the Triffids" recently which was great.

Original or that BBC miniseries with Eddie Izzard?

Both were pretty tight, but I preferred the B&W.

Musta been somewhere in between.. looked 80's, wasn't B&W & no Eddie (had to look him up).

It really was great considering how cheesy the whole plot is.

[anarchir]

I find something I might want to watch "on TV"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg46DWI_fCE

Yeah. Gonna irritate the shit outta me that I have to wait for the season to come out.

If you'd like I'll provide megavideo links weekly for ya'all. I will be watching the series weekly as it comes out.

[mrapplecastle]

I find something I might want to watch "on TV"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg46DWI_fCE

Yeah. Gonna irritate the shit outta me that I have to wait for the season to come out.

If you'd like I'll provide megavideo links weekly for ya'all. I will be watching the series weekly as it comes out.

That would be excellent

[Lindsey]

I've started watching MORE.  GAH.  Including JERSEYLICIOUS.  Kill me NOW. 

[John Shaw]

If you'd like I'll provide megavideo links weekly for ya'all. I will be watching the series weekly as it comes out.

I prefer to wait until I can watch it all at once. I just stay a season behind by default.

[Bill Brasky]

Most of the TV I actually watch is series rips. 

Mad Men, Breaking Bad, stuff like that.  I really don't like watching it on TV. 

When I find a show I like, I'll take the whole series and watch it in order.  Then I'll take the most recent episodes as they arrive.  If it wasn't for the webs, I wouldn't have seen any of that stuff.  I consider it more like movies when I do that, since I'm not exposed to all the extraneous advertising, which is geared to the demographic. 

Sitting on the couch and channel surfing, I don't do that.  I watch CNBC a lot, and sometimes the Hitler Channel. 

[BonerJoe]

I don't understand why the studios just don't put a voluntary payment facility up. I'd totally drop a fair amount of cash their way.

[Bill Brasky]

I don't understand why the studios just don't put a voluntary payment facility up. I'd totally drop a fair amount of cash their way.

*ALL* media is the stuff they put between commercials, unless its a subscription channel. 

It is not in their best interests to show what the programming is actually worth in an unexplored payment model.  They need a carefully controlled environment to audit the download statistics, like iTunes, if they want to do an end-run around advertising revenue. 

Then they can say 10% of our viewers pay a dollar per episode, yadda yadda.  The other 90% are still on land lines.  A "few" percent are pirating, but we're really not sure how many. 

They own the content, and sometimes not.  Some stuff is in syndication.  They own the pipes, and sometimes not.  Big conflicts of interest there, divvying up who gets what from a revenue source.  Its probably better just to shake their fist at the problem.