National TV Turn Off Week

Nice, but I feel like it's hopeless... by grub · 2004-04-16 04:40 · Score: 5, Insightful

I mailed that link (subscriber) to people at work and some friends. Already the replies have been:

"Great in theory, but there's a new Friends episode on Thursday. [...]"

[group reply to above] "Yeah, great...in theory...."

My sister, who hasn't replied back yet, will undoubtedly mention Trading Spaces or another of those TLC shows. Another friend will complain about missing NASCAR or Monster Garage or whatever...

How the hell can the kids have a hope at reducing viewing, or dumping TV altogether, when the adults around them come up with excuses to not give up the idiot box for just one damn week?

--
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Re:Nice, but I feel like it's hopeless... by ScottGant · 2004-04-16 04:45 · Score: 4, Insightful

We don't have a TV, but we watch Sunday night TV at my inlaws house...mainly HBO original programs like The Sopranos and Deadwood at the moment.

So giving up TV for a week isn't really a big deal for us...

But giving up the internet for a week? That would be hard my friend...

--

"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
Re:Nice, but I feel like it's hopeless... by lazuli42 · 2004-04-16 04:46 · Score: 4, Insightful

Ever since I've had my cable modem I've hardly watched television at all.

For example, this year I have watched television for about 6 hours. About three of that was the Super Bowl (with it's totally lame ads this year, blah), and about three of that was the Academy Awards.

Last year I probably watched about 20 hours worth of television programming.

One reason that I don't watch television is because of all the awful advertising. It seems like for every three minutes of programming there are two minutes of commercials.

--
"There's companies that are just so cool that you just can't even deal with it," - Bill Gates, about Google
Re:Nice, but I feel like it's hopeless... by q-the-impaler · 2004-04-16 04:50 · Score: 5, Insightful

I watch TV typically because my roommate has it on. He's definitely addicted since he got laid off from his IT job. I find myself requiring more interactivity than TV, so I am a computer junkie.

My girlfriend would argue that she would rather me be a TV junkie, because at least that is something we can do together. She would never think Slashdot was interesting, so you can guess that gaming is out of the question.

Most people do not want to be free of TV. You have to want to not watch TV and see that your life could be better without it. So, I guess people like us will just have to deal with other people who are not quite as motivated. Temperance is something geeks end up having to learn in order to work with the rest of society.

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Re:Nice, but I feel like it's hopeless... by PhoenixFlare · 2004-04-16 04:55 · Score: 4, Insightful

How the hell can the kids have a hope at reducing viewing, or dumping TV altogether, when the adults around them come up with excuses to not give up the idiot box for just one damn week?

Yeah, that's a great way to get people to participate - get angry, act annoyed about the shows they watch, and call it the "idiot box".

I don't think the lack of joy at your requests should be suprising in the least.
Re:Nice, but I feel like it's hopeless... by identity0 · 2004-04-16 05:03 · Score: 4, Insightful

How the hell can the kids have a hope at reducing viewing, or dumping TV altogether, when the adults around them come up with excuses to not give up the idiot box for just one damn week?

Maybe they shouldn't? 99% of TV is crap - they have a higher crap rate than other media, I think - but that 1% that is good is different for different people. Choosing one week to not watch TV is pretty arbitrary, I think.

The problem with TV is when people get bad viewing habits - that is, watching it without any particular show in mind, letting it control their schedule, or just vegging out in front of it for hours, etc. As long as people aren't doing that, I don't think turning it off is nessecary.

As an aside, though - I had a blackout last night, with no TV, and more importantly, no internet. I went outside and talked to a group of my neighbors that had gathered, and had a pleasant conversation. It was actually a nice experience getting to know them. I think this is the kind of thing the people at TV Turnoff week are after, but realistically there is no way to force people out short of a blackout. Plus, you can socialize without sacrificing TV, if you wanted to...
Re:Nice, but I feel like it's hopeless... by Golias · 2004-04-16 05:55 · Score: 4, Insightful

Pardon me for threadjacking an early section of the posts, but I see the general trend here is for people to proclaim that TV is, at best, a harmless vice. I would like to take this opportunity to proclaim that I love television.
Sure, a lot of it is crap, but if you apply Sturgeon's Law, TV holds its own in its obligation to provide 5% non-cruddy content. Setting aside prime-time gems like "Alias" and the ill-fated "Firefly", several of the late-night talk shows (Letterman, Kilborn, and O'Brien) provide relaxing, disposable laugh-filled entertainment on a nightly basis.
Then there's the wonder of Japanese TV, especially anime, made available at more reasonable priced than ever thanks to the rise of DVD and cable re-broadcasts. "Last Exile" is a science fiction series which shames George Lucas's best work, let alone his recent disappointments.
So, if anything, I plan on watching even more TV next week, to pick up the slack from those of you who are taking a break.

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Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

Seriously by caomania · 2004-04-16 04:47 · Score: 4, Insightful

Give it a try - you may never turn back. I stopped watching 2 years ago when my free cable got shut-off. Haven't watched more than 12 hours since. With the TV off you'll find lots of additional free time to indulge in more worthwhile pursuits. TV was the opium of the 80s it's time to kick the habit.

Re:Does it count... by tverbeek · 2004-04-16 04:51 · Score: 5, Insightful

if I just Tivo everything this week and watch it all next week?

At the risk of being serious... why not? Part of the point is to spend a week doing things other than watching TV, as a learning experience. Coming back the next week and watching twice as much to make up for it might undo some of the good that accomplishes, but you'd still have that week's experience to draw upon.

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Re:Why so desparate to have TV? by wizarddc · 2004-04-16 05:04 · Score: 5, Insightful

Because it's not productive or constructive. We (as in /. geeks) aren't saying all television is bad, or even certain shows. We're saying there is so much else to do with your life than sit on the couch. I don't own a tv, simply because I'm never home, between work and school. But I do watch tv. My friends and I will watch South Park and Chapelle's Show, and do it as a social activity. Then those shows are over, we'll generally then go do other things, like play music or sports or anything else really. TV as an activity is OK. TV as a lifestyle is horrible.

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Th

Re:Why so desparate to have TV? by pileated · 2004-04-16 05:07 · Score: 5, Insightful

I think the question is the quality of the entertainment. Spend your life in front of a tv and you'll never know that richer more rewarding types of entertainment, like reading for one, are available.

I think the idea is to just try it for a week. If you don't like in then go back to tv. But if you're afraid to even try, then tv sounds a wee bit like an addiction:-)

But who cares really, it's your life. As far as I'm concerned people who encourage you to watch less tv are like people who encouraged you not to smoke 25 years ago. Anyone can take or leave the advice but many people who took it were glad that they did.

Re:Stupid by WuphonsReach · 2004-04-16 05:23 · Score: 4, Insightful

This whole campaign rests on the assumption that there is something bad or wrong with watching a lot of TV. I say that watching as much TV as you want is perfectly fine.

You're missing the point.

The point of National TV Turn Off week is to break the behavoir pattern where all you do when you come home is flop on the couch and turn on the TV for the entire evening and watch whatever happens to be on. Pure escapism, especially if you're not addressing other pressing needs. Some escapism is okay, probably even healthy, but too much avoiding of issues just leaves problems to fester and make things worse down the road.

Then there are the people who schedule their lives around shows, making themselves slaves of the TV schedule. Remember the slogans "must-see TV" and the like?

Same old story as a bunch of other vices. Moderation is okay, addiction isn't. But a lot of people live in denial about their addictions and trying to go cold-turkey for a weeks is a good way to determine whether you're in control or your addiction is in control.

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Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?

The Words of Howard Beale by Valdrax · 2004-04-16 06:02 · Score: 4, Insightful

Yes, you can read newspapers to get by, but having moving pictures in your home is one of the greatest inventions of all time. Why would you want to abstain from it for some enlightend purpose?

I will leave you with a quote from Howard Beale, an overstressed news anchor turned mad street prophet, from the movie "Network":

You people and sixty-two million other Americans are listening to me right now. Because less than three percent of you people read books. Because less than fifteen percent of you read newspapers. Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube. Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube. This tube is the gospel, the ultimate revelation. This tube can make or break Presidents, Popes, Prime Ministers. This tube is the most awesome, god-damned force in the whole godless world. And woe is us if it ever falls into the hands of the wrong people [...movie plot stuff snipped...] And when the twelfth largest company in the world controls the most awesome, god-damned propaganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what s--t will be peddled for truth on this network.

So, you listen to me! Listen to me! Television is not the truth. Television is a god-damned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, story tellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers and football players. We're in the boredom-killing business. So if you want the truth, go to your God, go to your gurus, go to yourselves because that's the only place you're ever gonna find any real truth. But man, you're never gonna get any truth from us. We'll tell you anything you want to hear. We lie like hell! We'll tell you that Kojack always gets the killer, and nobody ever gets cancer in Archie Bunker's house. And no matter how much trouble the hero is in, don't worry. Just look at your watch - at the end of the hour, he's gonna win. We'll tell you any s--t you want to hear. We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true! But you people sit there day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds - we're all you know. You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here. You're beginning to think that the tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you. You dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube. You even think like the tube.

This is mass madness. You maniacs. In God's name, you people are the real thing. We are the illusion. So turn off your television sets. Turn them off now. Turn them off right now. Turn them off and leave them off. Turn them off right in the middle of this sentence I am speaking to you now. Turn them off!

Network is simply one of the best movies ever made about TV and the News. I highly recommend it. Despite 70s dress and equipment, it manages not to be dated. All the issues it deals with are still relevant, from how sensationalism taints objectivity and values to how quickly idealists can sell-out when given the opportunity.

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