I don't have television.

[Lord of Oats]

I just thought you guys should know.

Anyone else have experiences with or opinions on television-free living?

[Billy's Little Trip]

I could live without TV, but I'd rather not. Without John Stewart and Colbert, I'd have no political understanding. Reading gives me a backache.

[Spud]

I have a television, but I only use it to watch my Stargate complete collection DVDs (one episode a night, every night). I just started season 8 last night. I have not watched broadcast TV in many years, with the exception of the Presidential debates last fall. I really don't feel like I am missing anything.

[Caravan Ray]

Anyone else have experiences with or opinions on television-free living?

I live in New Zealand. It is essentialy the same thing.

Like Spud, I also pretty much only watch DVDs - but not the geeky nerd stuff he mentioned. I pretty much just have Blackadder, Get Smart and Yes, Minister on constant rotation.

I have also spent 2 years living in Kiribati. No TV at all (I didn't even have a set to watch videos on). No internet. The local radio station only came on for about 2 hours a day. No foreign newspapers, and the local paper had only one page written in English - which I wrote myself. No bookshops, no record shops, no movies etc. etc... No nuthin' in the way of 'manufactured' entertainment except for the local library and a few magazine subscriptions which arrived intermittantly. It really is surprising how quickly and easily you can adapt and realise you are not missing anything whatsoever

[Lord of Oats]

I gave my television box and DVD player to my ex, since the guy that was supposed to move in with me said he had ample televisions. Now he apparently doesn't have the money to live here...I don't know how that's possible. My parents have another two televisions just like the one I'm letting her use, but I don't know what I would do with it if I were to get one of them. I don't have a DVD player or any cable whatsoever. I'm getting internet from the neighbors. The cheapest internet from Cox is $20/month. The network adapter that I considered overpriced at $35 has already paid for itself, it seems. All this talk of the Oscars I see on Facebook has made me think of my lack of television. I'm pretty sure television programming isn't worthwhile. It certainly doesn't seem worth $50/month to get the only two channels I would watch (Comedy Central and Food Network). The $15 cable sucks.

Oh, I nearly forgot. My gym has DirecTV on all the cardio machines. Is that how you spell that? Looks retarded. Anyway, sometimes I get to see Good Eats. But now most of the time I eschew the TV box machines in favor of the video game bike. But my, is that getting boring. I could go to the gym right now, but my brain might go numb while I'm working on my cardiovascular health. Television or crappy virtual reality...hmm...

My dog took a crap in the spare bedroom when I wasn't looking. What the hell is that all about?

[Billy's Little Trip]

My dog took a crap in the spare bedroom when I wasn't looking. What the hell is that all about?

Fuck that! Burn the house down and move.

[Caravan Ray]

My dog took a crap in the spare bedroom when I wasn't looking. What the hell is that all about?

Does he normally let you watch?

Bad dog.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Speaking of the Oscars, Hugh Jackman is the host and is officially awesome. If you weren't watching, look it up on youtube tomorrow. I laughed when he talked about Robert Downey Jr being nominated for being an American playing the part of an Australia, while Hugh IS an Australian that played an Australian in a movie called Australia and he's only hosting the awards.

[Lord of Oats]

Yeah, I typically accompany him outdoors when it's dump time. Is that weird or something?

I would also like to note that I am unsatisfied in nearly every sense.

[Billy's Little Trip]

I would also like to note that I am unsatisfied in nearly every sense.

Just go take your dog for a walk, then come home and rub one out. That'll fix you right up.

[Lord of Oats]

My jeans have been annoyingly loose today. I think I'm due for another trip to WALMART. Yuck? Maybe they just need a wash. I think I should head for roll call before things get out of hand.

If it adds any perspective, I don't miss the television nearly as much as the girl that took it.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Ah, there are plenty of fish in the sea. You're way too young to get all caught up on one.

[Lord of Oats]

Is it really her, or just the idea of having someone around? Don't overestimate me.

To extend the metaphor a bit, that would be relevant if I were anywhere near the sea. I find myself landlocked, with no route to the coast.

I'd gladly at least attempt to replace her if there were any candidates in my midst.

It's hard to break new ground in any area. Where's my shovel?

[Caravan Ray]

Is it really her, or just the idea of having someone around? Don't overestimate me.

To extend the metaphor a bit, that would be relevant if I were anywhere near the sea. I find myself landlocked, with no route to the coast.

I'd gladly at least attempt to replace her if there were any candidates in my midst.

It's hard to break new ground in any area. Where's my shovel?

At least you've still got the dog.

[Lord of Oats]

He isn't much for conversation. He doesn't bring home any money. He basically just requires food and attention.

Sounds more like a liability than an asset to me.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Are you kidding? Dogs are chick magnets! You go take your pooch for a walk at the park and play ball for a while. It's like going fishing with magic bait. It helps if you can teach your dog a few unbelievably cute tricks.

...go put that dog to work....naow.

[Teplin]

He isn't much for conversation. He doesn't bring home any money. He basically just requires food and attention.

Sounds more like a liability than an asset to me.

I've been married. The dog sounds like a bargain.

[Caravan Ray]

Is it just me?

Or has Spud's avatar suddenly turned into lovable 1970s TV frontiersman/dangerous loner - Grizzley Adams?

[Henrietta]

I watch my laptop more than my tv. Hulu.com is awesome.... it's basically a hub for full episodes that networks post online. Daily Show, Colbert, Office, Battlestar, Dollhouse, Simpsons, Family Guy... all sorts of stuff. VH1.com has an extensive catalog of trashy reality shows. Netflix.com has a pretty good selection of tv & movies you can 'watch instantly' on your computer, although for that you do need to be a subscriber which starts at $5/mo.... it might be worth it if can't live without reruns of Magnum PI or if you wanna catch up on the first three seasons of Heroes.

video game bike.

Wait, what? That sounds awesome.

[ujnhunter]

The only thing that I ever watched on TV was Hockey games... but I watch them free on my computer now. I have been using Netflix watch it now & dvds for years. I don't have cable. Use my TV exclusively for gaming.

[roymond]

I have a bunch of friends without any TV, who raised their kids without it, etc.. I do admire them, but I just don't think it's "bad" for you any more than lots of things, or magazines or billboards are bad. If you spend your whole day watching crap, sure that's bad. But there's tremendous stuff on PBS and plenty of commercial programming is...entertaining.

BTW, currently, the only way to get uncompressed HD is free terrestrial digital broadcast. You can't get all the cable channels but for network crap it's all you need if you can receive it and have a digital tuner (as most TVs sold in the past 5 years do...or get one of those little box tuners from Radio Shack.) Plus, in many markets, you can now receive 2 or 3 more PBS stations than over analog terrestrial.

I guess what I'm saying is, you can do pretty well without a subscription. But you need the screen at least. Otherwise, yeah, Hulu, etc.

[Billy's Little Trip]

I'm paying Cox cable right now $140 a month. My service with Cox is my digital TV with DVR, all the channels with music choice and like 4 or 5 HBOs and Showtime channels, my land line phone and my internet. It's not an affordability issue, but it bothers me that I'm paying one company that much per month. I've looked around "briefly" for less expensive services, but they all have these low ball starting prices that just go up to what I'm paying now, after a few months.