First off, I do wonder why researchers find television viewing and voting, newspaper reading, socializing and sex mutually exclusive of TV enjoyment. Granted, I don't have a job-job, so I do have more time than most. Still, I am an author (just finished my third novel, Savannah of Williamsburg Book III), business owner (media company, duh) and all-around flutterby-about-town kind of gal. Washington Post at Aroma's in the afternoon, writing and research later in the day in front of the Boob-tube, Netflix/Redbox gorging in the evening. I do think, though, that the main difference for me is that, and this was recently proved to be excellent for brain health and memory function, I do all this whilst watching TV. Well, not the Netflix, but everything else. Here's just a sample of recent viewing activity.
TV, broadcast, cable and DVD: Lost, Family Guy, Entourage, Seinfeld, Absolutely Fabulous, Kath and Kim, Midsomer Murders, Jeeves and Wooster, The Simpsons, Scrubs, King of Queens, King of the Hill, Antiques Roadshow, NOVA, any and all news, NCIS, George Lopez, Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work and That 70s Show (Note: this does not include Hulu viewing: The Daily Show, Ghost Hunters, Family Guy, usually just the audio, as I watch/listen on my laptop whilst I work. This week, work was editing my latest book.)
Netflix/Redbox/Library DVD Rentals: Black Irish, You Kill Me, To Live and Die in L.A., Down in the Valley, La Meglio Giovent, The Shooting Gallery, Hot Shots, The Craft, The Anniversary Party, Personal Velocity and others.
Internet: Hulu.com, as previously mentioned, BBC, Yahoo, MSNBC, WhiteHouse.gov, Jannie Funster's blog, Teacher Dude's blog and who knows what else?
Old-school, Analog Newspapers and Magazines: The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Flat Hat, Betty and Veronica, The New Yorker, Wired and some freebie newsletter at Starbucks.
Books: "All the President's Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House", "What Would Audrey Do?", "The Sixteen Pleasures", "The Journal of Major George Washington to the Commandant of the French Forces on Ohio" and "The Slippery Slope: Book the Tenth in a Series of Unfortunate Events"
"Why do we care about this? What is wrong with you, you ego-centric, self-consumed, weird-ass chick?", you may ask. Well, that's a fair point. My point is that after years of meeting people whom state proudly, "I don't watch TV.", as though they've achieved some higher realm of existentialism, and after reading this recent study, I wish to state proudly and uselessly, "I do watch TV. Lots of it!"
When I attend book signings at Borders or Barnes and Noble or Colonial Williamsburg, I'm often asked, "How do you write? What's your office like? Is it all quiet and stuff?" Hell, no. Our television comes on about six a.m and goes off around one a.m. (The Viking is an early riser; I'm a night owl.) Sometimes it's background noise, sometimes it's sit-and-stare viewing. Mostly, it's simply aural and visual stimuli. Like the Dutch, charcoal sketches on our living room wall, the ever-expanding library flowing throughout our home, the Family Guy DVD playing in the bedroom right now (It's nice to hear Peter and Stewie when I go to my closet.) to the BBC News window I've got minimized as I write this, or the tedious episode of Lost that's playing right now on the family room TV (Season Three? OMG. "Hey, I've got an idea. Let's get some writers who never saw seasons one and two. Oh, and throw in that polar bear and maybe a Staples on the island.") , it's all media working its way into my grey cells, for good or for bad.
Now, I'll admit the more Law and Order, NCIS (note sidebar picture and TV's effect on even my Halloween choices), CSI and the like that I watch, especially very late at night, the spookier my dreams tend to become. So, I back off the crime mysteries (except for Midsomer Murders and Poirot, I could never back off those) and the nighttime weirdness abates. . .at least during sleep. Weirdness never really abates where I am concerned!
In short, and I know that's odd for me, for I never write anything concise, I found the news story of the unhappy viewers, a Yahoo cull from LiveScience.com, somewhat interesting, yet, as with any study, it's best to learn more about the focus group and the methods therein used. (Is it the same group over the years? Did they start out unhappy and just devolve into unhappier lives? What are they watching? Are they doing anything whilst they watch? Where do they live? Are outdoor activities more difficult depending on age/region/time of year?).
I guess the key is to utilize television, all media really, not just observe. Watch a ballet or studio arts programme on PBS? Use that as inspiration to head to a museum or take a dance class this weekend. See a silly sitcom set in a coffeehouse? Head on out to your favourite cafe and grab a Foreign Policy and an espresso. Pissed off about the news? Write a blog or search on-line for people whom share your irks. In short, like any other medium, television can inspire. Even shows like America's Biggest Loser and Meal or No Meal, I mean, Deal or No Deal, can help the inactive get off the couch and move. I don't watch these shows. In truth, I loathe most "reality television", with the exception of The Amazing Race, the now defunct The Apprentice and Ghost-Hunters (Those guys never really catch much on tape, do they?). That said, even the trailers for ABL and Deal can spurn me into an all-espresso and miso soup diet for a few days. Love 'em or not, the Deal girls are yummy and they can help me sustain my size four with the same influence George Stephanopoulos and George Will can sustain my news junkie fixes. TV's like a Borders store. Sure, you can stay in the humour and sports sections all day long; but, there are thousands of other subjects and genres just waiting to be used. TV is not mutually exclusive of any high-minded, low-brow, cultural, social or physical pursuits. Of course, what do I know?
