I was a TV addict. Sure, there were worse cases out there, but I was definitely hooked. For as long as I remember, I preferred to have the TV on, even if only for background noise.
Pink Panther and Bugs Bunny/Road Runner cartoons. Price is Right. Match Game 7x. Diff'rent Strokes. MASH. WKRP in Cincinnati. National Geographic specials. Charlie Brown & Grinch & Willy Wonka & Wizard of Oz specials. Odd Couple. A-Team. Dukes of Hazzard. Miami Vice. MTV (back when they actually played music videos). Twin Peaks. Star Trek NG. The Simpsons. ER. And many many others...
(After watching waaay too many ER reruns, I had a funny dream about it once).
About 6 or 7 years ago, it became clear to me how much time I was wasting in front of the tube. One major symptom was a loss of interest in my creative pursuits. I used to draw and paint, make models from kits and from scratch, record music and build experimental instruments. But increasingly, my time outside of work and sleep was spent 'vegetating in cathode radiation'.
That should have been enough to make me quit, but it wasn't.
A couple of years later, the suggestive content (which had been there for quite a while) began to bother me. It was spreading everywhere, but my main example was the Drew Carey show. The first season was funny - with the 'Moon Over Parma' theme song - but after that, most of the jokes really became genitalia-centric. That 70's Show was similar. Ads for Viagra, condoms, and 'feminine products' became commonplace, too.
That should have been enough to make me quit too. It wasn't, but I did cut back a little.
That overlapped with my 2 times of unemployment, when I was sort of O.D.ing on TV. My conscience (or Someone else) started saying "This is filth. Why are you polluting your mind with it?"
(Actually, the first time I heard those words clearly was after watching the movie "Fight Club". Although an interesting movie, it made me want to shower twice after seeing it.)
The nails in the coffin of my addiction came during the year prior to this election, with the media loudly proclaiming its utter contempt for American values - except for freedom of speech (which they grant only to themselves).
"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?... You have seen fit to bring it out, and if there is a God in heaven, it will do neither you nor your cause any good."
They have cured this addict. I hope they have cured many many more.
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update 4/05: here are two different reactions to tv.
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