by Alexander Mark

Created on: April 21, 2009

A year ago I made the decision to put the TV in the closet. Yes, literally. I'm not Amish and I like technology, so I am open to using it again in the future. But I might as well throw it out, because I never want it in my house again. I really only have two valid reasons for my lifestyle change: One, There is no such thing as regular programming anymore. When I come home at night from work, I want to turn on the TV and watch one of my favorite sitcoms, Frasier, which had been running in the same slot for the past three months. Instead of going through all the shows from start to finish, they recycle the exact same shows over and over again, and then move the show out of its slot. Of course I am not so naive to think that they aren't trying to reach that almighty ratings number for that particular day and time slot. But it is a mistake to think that I am just going to flip on the boob tube and watch whatever boring mindless crap they want to feed me. How can I relax in front of the TV after working all day when I can't rely on my little buddy to show me what I want to see?

Second, it's the immorality. Even if I am watching Andy Griffith, when the commercials come up, they have to talk about herpes "lifestyles" medicine, show me every scene from the next wonderful horror movie preview about a Bible toting serial killer who skins people alive to bring "salvation" to his victims, peddle condoms and show me the next installment of the Jerry Springer show where somebody's brother, who is a gay transvestite, is also running drugs in the very same car he/she drives one of the kids to school with. (Of course the later the hour, the more licentious the advertisements).

To be honest, there is a third reason for dumping the TV. Once you sit down, and your brain wave patterns flatline, you become a zombie, and depending on your state of apathy and fatigue, you can sit and flip channels for hours. Oh the bliss! I do miss that. But thankfully, the content became so disgusting, and the programming changes became so annoying, that it broke me out of my apathy.

There are still good shows on but I refuse to pay for cable, and different viewing regions have better programming than the city where I live. What I miss the most is KVIE. They are without a doubt a liberally biased broadcaster, but they still have some great nature shows and quality British comedy and drama. Unfortunately they do not offer the same wide range of viewing content online which brings me to my next point.

There

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