After not watching TV for a while, it’s easy to forget how ridiculous some of the advertising is. It seems that almost every time I watch it, I’m shocked by something I see even though I know I should have expected it. As bad as it is, it at least it gives me some good ideas to write about.

I will turn on the TV to watch a few shows here & there—lighthearted fun stuff or HGTV or Food Network, etc—but I never just watch it; I’m usually doing 2-3 other things around the house. The worst part is hearing the commercials…the most horrendous one was the one promoting HFCS as “healthy” because it comes from corn! I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or faint from horror, knowing that there are people who will believe it! That’s as depressing as watching the “news” used to be.

Grampa Ken – Although I think there are better ways to spend time with family, I agree that television can be worthwhile if it promotes family time. However, as you said, that’s typically not the case. I love the quote you left! Fortunately, with the advancement of most cable networks, there’s a lot more interesting and educational programming available now.

Bud – Crazy indeed! Although I do enjoy watching television on occasion, I think it would be torture to watch that much of it.

For a while I used to watch T.V all day everyday, however when I moved to China the cable wasn’t all that good so it was easy to break the habit.

I found that when I didn’t watch T.V I would actually go outside and do something rather than just sit around. I also had the opportunity to buy cheap dvd’s in China so I would watch those without commercials which saved me a lot of time.

As you mentioned 35 hours is damn near a full time job! CRAZY!

There is a steep cost in watching television, in dollars and in the loss of valuable social and family communications.

“I wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. There’s a knob called “brightness”, but that doesn’t work.” – Author Unknown
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Stephen – I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Antonio – Yes, this is a problem that far too many people don’t recognize. Thank you for helping to spread awareness!

Sharona – Recording your favorite programs is a great way to avoid being influenced by commercials, and it’s also a great way to save a bit of time. I’ve never seen The Doctors, but it sounds pretty bad. I’ll have to check it out for a potential article topic.

ægil – I totally agree, we’re the ones who are responsible. We can’t blame our poor decisions on external sources of information that we allow to have an influence. Even books can be misleading in a negative way, and it’s necessary to be critical and objective with whatever we read, hear, or watch.

TV is just tainted with politically correct information these days that I rarely watch TV. Yes, an open mind is useful, do not waste time on shows that already contain bad information. Like in Sharona’s comment.

We are responsible for the information that goes to us!