Watch Out for What You Watch

”I wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. There's a knob called "brightness," but that doesn't work.” ~Author Unknown

Research shows that we watch an average of six hours of television a day. I know, I know—not you! You only turn it on to watch the news and the occasional History Channel special. So that must mean that the rest of the country is actually watching about 8 hours a day. Whatever! Most of us are watching a lot, or a little, but we’re watching.

With DVRs and TVO appointment TV, as it’s being called, is catching on. Program your set to record only what you want, watch it at your convenience and skip the ads. Or, if you must watch something live, hit pause to answer the phone or take care of other interruptions as they occur never missing a single scene. I’ll admit I love that. It allows us to watch our choice of programs when we desire to see them instead of sitting down in a free minute and asking, “What’s on?”

The quality of television content has not improved but it has gotten a little sharper and the comedy can be a little wittier. The classics like M.A.S.H. and All in the Family are hard to beat but there are many others that need to be forgotten. Many being produced now will soon be in that category as well.

I don’t have little kids at home, so I have freedom to choose from anything offered. I don’t watch a lot of TV but I do watch some. Mostly it is a winding down time for my husband and me in the evenings. I have guilty pleasures that I indulge in, usually to laugh. I give shows a sort of three strike rule. If they incorporate things that I am really offended by once or twice, but I still really enjoy the program, I keep watching (chock it up to tolerance). After the third time, I consider it as being a foundational aspect of the story, script, etc, and sacrifice watching it. A good example of this is Boston Legal. We really liked that show and looked forward to it each week. But when it became increasingly filled with liberal political agendas and overt demeaning of my Christian values, we gave it up.

There are a few shows now that I still look forward to watching. The Big Bang Theory and Psyche strike me as very funny. House combines humor with solving a medical mystery. Medium is intriguing and incorporates my hometown in the plot lines. I also like some of the crime dramas like CSI, Bones, and Criminal Intent but they can get pretty graphic and gruesome, so those are only good in limited doses. We watch the O’Reilly Factor sometimes and my husband’s favorite (I watch it too!) is Pardon the Interruption (a funny general sports report).

OK, you have my confession (at least all that I’m telling today) of favorite programming. Joni Corby suggested this topic because she truly wants some good suggestions on what to watch (or avoid) on the main networks or cable. Help a girl out! Share your viewing preferences.
Diane Markins