Too Much

I watch way too much television.  That I am sure of.  Living alone it's easy to get into the habit of turning on the TV for a little background noise while doing other things.  Perhaps that isn't such a bad thing, but just wondering if it's a bad thing surely tells me that it is.

Growing up we had a black and white TV that sat on a gold metal cart in the corner of the room.  We had VHF channels and UHF channels and they were tuned in on two different dials.  The set itself was probably about 19 inches in diameter.  If a larger set were desired one would have to go with the console model that came in a cabinet.  We had one of those later on.

There was no remote back then, which definitely kept harmony in the family room.  Last week I watched as my brother-in-law clicked away happily from one channel to the next like he was spinning some sort of roulette wheel.  Just about when I started to get into something he would click on to the next thing.  After about two days of TV roulette I learned not to get too involved in anything.  

Before remote control was a standard part of television viewing it was common to watch one show from beginning to end.  In fact, during the prime time viewing hours we were likely to stick with one network from 8:00pm onward.  TV roulette didn't happen back then because that would have meant someone having to stand by the set and switch the channels.  Nobody wanted to do that.

Today there are so many viewing choices.  Not only is there broadcast television, there's cable and on demand choices as well as streaming services.  There's really no such thing as "appointment TV" anymore.  Thanks to DVR I never have to watch anything when it's originally broadcast- I can watch it days or weeks later when the time is right for me.  

So, maybe my TV viewing has gotten a little out of hand.  I'm willing to work on that.  In my defense, TV has gotten a little out of hand as well.