I knew this would happen to an extent when I moved to LA, but I didn’t know it would happen this fast or be this drastic: there’s no longer anything on television that I feel I can’t miss. There are no longer any TV shows, comedy or drama, that make me want to stay home. I live in the real world so I might as well get my entertainment from the real world. And no, I’m not talking about reality television.
Much of how I got to this point has to do with a few boneheaded moves by NBC/Universal. The cancellation of Studio 60 after one season not only took my favorite show away from me, it also convinced me (and likely the networks) that intelligent TV shows can no longer survive and that as a result it’ll be a long time before any of the new shows we see have any thoughtfulness to them. And I’ve fallen for the trap of getting to know a batch of new characters only to have them disappear after one season (or less) for the last time; I automatically refuse to start watching any new show until it’s been renewed for its second season, at which time I might consider catching up.
But I tried this with Heroes only to find the NBC yanked it from iTunes just shortly before I was planning on grabbing all the back-episodes. Problem solved, I just won’t become a Heroes watcher after all. Good job, NBC. But then it really came to a hilt when the opening week for most fall TV shows happened to be the week of Podcast Expo, meaning that I was either too busy prepping or at the expo itself. I did manage to catch the premieres of NCIS (getting stale), Criminal Minds (jumped the shark), CSI:NY (I’ve never been in love with it), and Boston Legal (love it but I won’t die if I miss an episode). I missed the premiere of House, and when I went to grab it from iTunes a few hours before the second episode was supposed to air, I found that it wasn’t there. So I didn’t watch the second episode either. Good job, FOX. And then there was the office, whose premiere I missed while I was in Ontario, and which of course is missing from iTunes because NBC/Universal is a suicidal company. Good job again, NBC!
Part of my problem is that I grew so dependent on my DVR back in Florida that I didn’t even remember what show was on what night. When I came to LA it was right after the season ended so getting a DVR wasn’t the biggest priority at the time, Four months later and I still don’t have one. And you know what? I don’t really miss it.
This past week I spent my evenings at a music club (MoZella and Curtis Peoples on the same bill), a comedy club (the hilarious Tim Coyne of LA Podcasters), and a yoga class (thank you Hillary Rubin of LA Podcasters for inviting me). This upcoming week I’m going to another music club to do an on-site musician interview, dinner with a friend, a podcasters meetup, and another yoga class. I’ve documented my professional reasons for moving to Los Angeles, but there were personal reasons as well, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that there’s always something going on. And nine times out of ten, whatever’s going on here in the “real world” is more compelling than whatever is on television on a given night.
I’m not saying that I refuse to turn the thing on anymore. If I need background noise to keep my rolling with my work I’m always going to have the sports news turned on, and if the opportunity is there to take in pro football games I’m going to do so (I’ve got the Bears-Packers game on right now). But the beauty of sports-themed television is that you can usually just walk away from it or turn it off when you feel like it (I walked down to the corner store and back during the third quarter), and so it’s the last vestige of television I’m still holding onto.
I might get sucked back in at some point if it slows down (for instance I still intend to check out 24 when it returns in January). But when are things going to slow down? We’re ten days away from taking iProng Radio in a whole new direction, accessories for the newest iPods are starting to show up en masse, and Macworld Expo is two months away. Television, I love you, but I think I’m going to need to start seeing other people. You’re welcome to do the same.
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