When did you kill your T.V.?

Kentuk

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Do you watch T.V.?
Who watches more you or the spouse?
Does T.V. inspire your writing?
When do you plan to upgrade to HDTV?
Do you write while the T.V. is on?
Have you ever abused an appliance?
 

C.bronco

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I watch the Nascar races. Other than that, I relenquish access to the remote. I can talk extensively about Nick Jr. and Cartoon Network, as well as hunting and fishing shows in which I have no interest.
 

Kentuk

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Ouch! Just noticed I didn't post where I thought I did, can't delete now cause of the reply. Hey Mod!
I was inspired to ask because I misread the post about 'What to do when you don't read' as what do you do when you aren't reading.
Although I'm a late baby-boomer and should be part of the television generation I spent some formative years out of the country. I'm always amazed at how dependent people are on their television.
 

Rolling Thunder

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I have 5 channels. Seriously! Rabbit ears are free, cable is expensive and I always find something to do. Last time I had cable was in 1997.
 

WriterInChains

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I only have Basic Cable (~30 channels, only half of which ever have anything resembling decent programming). I only get cable at all so I can watch a local hard rock video show every week. :)

No spouse, but I only watch things that are truly good: well-written, well-acted, preferably both. Needless to say, I use my TV mostly to watch movies! My daughter doesn't watch TV at all, she even gave up on Law & Order this year (I may too, the writing's just not of the same caliber - jury's still out :)). Really, I watch less than 6 hours of TV in a given week (not including football games, my local access channel also gets the CFL!).

I've gone without having a TV a couple of times & it didn't really bother me (OK, after the first week or so, after I got over the DTs :)). I just love stories so much I have to have one for movies at least. DVD rentals are cheaper than the theater & I don't have to plan ahead as far.

When my kiddo moves out & takes her high-speed connection with her, I'll REALLY get a lot of writing done!

And to answer the last 4 questions: no; never, if I can get away with it; never; only my espresso machine.
 
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Unique

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Kentuk said:
Do you watch T.V.?
Who watches more you or the spouse?
Does T.V. inspire your writing?
When do you plan to upgrade to HDTV?
Do you write while the T.V. is on?
Have you ever abused an appliance?

I rarely ever watch TV. The last four or five I've had, have been given to me. (I guess I look deprived or something)

The spouse watched waaay more than I did. Thank goodness he's gone. Two idiot boxes in the same house is too many.

TV does not inspire my writing, it inspires my contempt.

I'll upgrade to HDTV when hell freezes over (or somebody gives me one. :D)

Sometimes I'll write when it's on because that means my son is watching a video or DVD movie from the library and I might actually get some uninterrupted 'think' time.

I've never physically abused an appliance (though I have been tempted); however, I have verbally abused television commercials. It's a hobby.

Theatre is art. Film is entertainment. Television is furniture.
 

xhouseboy

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Unique said:
Theatre is art. Film is entertainment. Television is furniture.

Sienfeld, The Simpsons, Frasier, Band of Brothers, Lonesome Dove, The Sopranos, The West Wing, and so on and so forth...

Not a bad output of entertainment from a piece of furniture.
 

Unique

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xhouseboy said:
Sienfeld, The Simpsons, Frasier, Band of Brothers, Lonesome Dove, The Sopranos, The West Wing, and so on and so forth...

Not a bad output of entertainment from a piece of furniture.

I'll give you those two. The rest I'll pay you to take away. Far, far away. ;)
 

Evaine

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At the moment all I watch (apart from the news occasionally) is Torchwood, the Doctor Who spin off.
I would have watched the new BBC Robin Hood series - I love the Robin Hood legend - but this version is just awful rubbish, and I can't sit through it.
 

Little Red Barn

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I have free T. V. Nine channels and I watch maybe an hour a week. I find music more inspirational for my writing.
 
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Do you watch T.V.? Only when there's something specific on that I want to watch - I never use the TV as background noise.
Who watches more you or the spouse? I live on my own!
Does T.V. inspire your writing? Rarely.
When do you plan to upgrade to HDTV? When I've saved up £3000 for an HD, digital-ready LCD TV. Aim for the top, baby! And to think at the moment I use a portable televideo which cost £95 - less than the licence!
Do you write while the T.V. is on? Nope.
Have you ever abused an appliance? Washing machine. My old telly. You name it, I've thrown something at it.
 

anavicenteferreira

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I have 4 channels. Anyway, half the time I forget to turn on the TV. I watch a couple of shows regularly, a few documentaries, some films, and occasionaly the news. Right now it must come to two hours a day.

I have been inspired by TV, generally documentaries.
 

eldragon

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We haven't had cable in our house in 3 or 4 years. No kidding. That means the only thing playing on the tube is Netflix rentals, or DVD's we already own or buy.

This works out great for everyone. My husband and I love foreign films, and get a great selection from Netflix. My kids don't beat the daylights out of each other trying to decide which Disney channel to watch.

I buy my 9 year old the complete seasons of Spongebob, her favorite show - and everyone is happy.

It really works well. Death to television.

Who has time to watch it anyway?
 

Shadow_Ferret

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Do you watch T.V.?
Of course! What kind of weirdo doesn't watch TV?

Who watches more you or the spouse?
Probably equal.

Does T.V. inspire your writing?
As much as anything in life inspires it, yes.

When do you plan to upgrade to HDTV?
Why? I can't tell the difference.

Do you write while the T.V. is on?
Sometimes.

Have you ever abused an appliance?
Shh. I have beaten a few.
 

Jongfan

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Kentuk said:
Do you watch T.V.? Not often.. baseball and ER
Kentuk said:
Who watches more you or the spouse? Spouse

Does T.V. inspire your writing? No


When do you plan to upgrade to HDTV? No

Do you write while the T.V. is on? No, music only


Have you ever abused an appliance?
Define abused???
 

Odile

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Sienfeld, The Simpsons, Frasier, Band of Brothers, Lonesome Dove, The Sopranos, The West Wing, and so on and so forth...

Not a bad output of entertainment from a piece of furniture.

:D
We get these in the Netherlands too. I watch television, but since I write I find I prefer to think and write than to watch. Also my writing defines how I watch television. New insights lead to other perspectives.

Odile
 

K1P1

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When did you kill your T.V.?
- I think it was about 1970.

Do you watch T.V.?
- Only if there is something very special I want to watch, and I happen to remember when it comes on. Maybe 5-6 times a year. And when I'm stuck in a hotel room. Like last weekend. I flipped through all the channels each evening, and even what was showing on the Weather Channel and CNN was crappy pseudo-horror.

Who watches more you or the spouse?
- Spouse - he watches the news

Does T.V. inspire your writing?
- Um, can't imagine how it would inspire knitting technique books, now that Elizabeth Zimmerman's off the air

When do you plan to upgrade to HDTV?
- no plans

Do you write while the T.V. is on?
- if I'm writing while the spouse is watching the news - in different rooms on different floors of the house

Have you ever abused an appliance?
- As a teenager, I once hit my sewing machine with my scissors when it jammed up for the umpteenth time. Why?
 

engmajor2005

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Kentuk said:
Do you watch T.V.?
Who watches more you or the spouse?
Does T.V. inspire your writing?
When do you plan to upgrade to HDTV?
Do you write while the T.V. is on?
Have you ever abused an appliance?

Only when I'm too tired to think. Every once in a while, I'll catch something on Comedy Central.

I'm not married, but everyone else in the house (Mom, Grandma, Brother, Aunt, Uncle) watches more in a day than I do in a year.

No. I think I might have gotten one idea one time, but other than that, there's a reason I watch it whem I'm too tired to think.

Maybe one day when they're less than fifty dollars and my current TV breaks.

Try to, and fail. Too distracting. If someone is in another room and I might overhear, I turn up the music.

Define "abuse." I've kicked the shite out of a few appliances when they refused to work, and my poor cell phone is everything from a calculator to a watch.
 
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heatheringemar

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My husband and I "killed" our TV shortly after we got married. We were tired of all the dreck and tired of the distraction.

Now we just use it for DVD rentals, and mostly, we listen to music instead.

When I lived with my parents, the TV was on from the time I got home from school (it made the house not so lonely), and I used to do my homework and other creative projects while it was on.
 

Yeshanu

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Don't watch TV, don't have cable or satellite.

Apparently, there was a study done that said watching TV (soap operas, specifically) actually makes you dumber...

I'm already dumb enough, thanks. :tongue
 

bluegrassandyb

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Do you watch T.V.? Very little, though I will be tuning in to the election results tonight.
Who watches more you or the spouse? Spouse.
Does T.V. inspire your writing? No.
When do you plan to upgrade to HDTV? Don't even know what that is.
Do you write while the T.V. is on? Yes, it occupies the wife and kids, so I don't have to entertain them.
Have you ever abused an appliance? That toaster is a liar; it was consensual!
 

Saint Fool

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Do you watch T.V.? Rabbit ears. 4 channels. Tape/watch about four shows a week and I love to shriek at the political shows on Sunday.

Who watches more you or the spouse? The former SO kept it turned on because he liked the visual/audio wallpaper. Drove me insane.

Does T.V. inspire your writing? I'l cop to thinking I could have written it better, but I've never tried a rewrite.

When do you plan to upgrade to HDTV? Since I found out that there will be converter devices for the rabbit ears crowd, probably never.

Do you write while the T.V. is on? If grocery lists and e-mails count as writing.

Have you ever abused an appliance? Who told you about my serger and the upholstery fabric?!?!?
 

Pat~

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Do you watch T.V.? Only an occasional episode of ER--if it's not a rerun, and I'll watch the figure skating championships

Who watches more you or the spouse? Hubby; he'll watch the news, too. But we're not really a TV watching family; we've never had cable, and mostly the kids and hubby use the TVs for renting movies.

Does T.V. inspire your writing? No

When do you plan to upgrade to HDTV? We have already

Do you write while the T.V. is on? Only because hubby uses headphones at night to watch TV while I'm on my laptop.

Have you ever abused an appliance? I've killed at least 3 steam irons, either by using tap water (instead of distilled), or by knocking them off the ironing board. Our current one lives because I've given up ironing.
 

Bat Guano

It surprises me that nobody so far is specifically inspired by TV.

Sometimes a fragment of a programme is enough to give me an idea. One incorrect answer on a quiz show made me laugh so much I wrote several hundred words on Cezanne's ventriloquial skills. Another time a spitting football player provided a 500 word piece.

Mind you, I have also been motivated to write stories about rubber duck racing (after seeing one) and a job vacancy in Marks & Spencer for a bra-fitting assistant once generated a spoof application for that coveted position.

I didn't get the job.