1. UpstateWriter

    UpstateWriter Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2015
    Messages:
    58
    Likes Received:
    17

    Do you watch TV?

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by UpstateWriter, May 22, 2015.

    I'm curious how many writers watch television versus how many writers shun television. With the exception of very few shows, I almost never watched TV when I started writing. Then, as the story goes, I met a woman who loved watching television, and she got me hooked watching quite a few shows.

    I found, though, as I writer I spent more time critically dissecting shows more than enjoying them for entertainment value. I don't watch enough to cut into my writing time, but often wonder if, subconsciously, I am borrowing plots of shows and inserting them into my writing. That's a scary thought, given the state of most TV.
     
  2. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    10,462
    Likes Received:
    11,689
    I used to watch a fair bit, but when I started writing I needed more time, something had to give... I stopped watching TV. Don't even have one in the house.
     
  3. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 1, 2008
    Messages:
    23,826
    Likes Received:
    20,815
    Location:
    El Tembloroso Caribe
    I watch films on my TV. Does that count? Can't go to the movies because local custom allows for a great deal of audience conversation and the making and taking of cellphone calls and texts, and since I'm too pretty for prison, better to avoid that. ;)
     
  4. uncephalized

    uncephalized Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2015
    Messages:
    111
    Likes Received:
    59
    Yeah. Mostly fluffy comedy stuff like New Girl and Big Bang Theory. It's just a distraction. Sometimes it takes too much of my time.
     
  5. Fullmetal Xeno

    Fullmetal Xeno Protector of Literature Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2011
    Messages:
    1,361
    Likes Received:
    142
    Location:
    Kingdom of Austniad
    I haven't had Cable since last November and ninety percent of the time, it's a blessing. Too much TV can ruin plenty of things.
     
  6. aguywhotypes

    aguywhotypes Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2013
    Messages:
    242
    Likes Received:
    116
    Location:
    Aiken, SC, United States
    way to MUCH! about 4-6 hours every day!
     
    matwoolf likes this.
  7. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2010
    Messages:
    13,984
    Likes Received:
    8,557
    Location:
    California, US
    I don't own a TV, and haven't had cable since around 2010. I do watch some stuff streaming on my laptop or tablet. Occasional TV shows and movies.
     
  8. PiP

    PiP Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2013
    Messages:
    759
    Likes Received:
    977
    Location:
    Algarve, Portugal
    I rarely if ever watch TV. I occasionally watch a film and that's it. I think it's primarily because I spend my free time either writing or on the internet and a lot of the TV shows do not hold my interest. If I lived by myself I would not bother with a TV.

    I don't know about TV in other countries but the thought of watching 'Big Brother' or 'I'm a celebrity get me out of here' makes me want to poke my eyes out with red hot pokers. Current affairs programs can be interesting although I usually end up shouting at the TV. Anyone else shout at the goggle box (TV)? I can be more selective with films.
     
  9. PiP

    PiP Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2013
    Messages:
    759
    Likes Received:
    977
    Location:
    Algarve, Portugal
    slightly off topic and one for @Steerpike I was reading through all the responses and about to log off when I caught sight of your avatar and words under your username
    Steerpike Felis magnetismus

    I'm not wearing my glasses and I thought it said 'flee management'. Goes off to hunt for glasses!
     
  10. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 1, 2008
    Messages:
    23,826
    Likes Received:
    20,815
    Location:
    El Tembloroso Caribe
    Um... just to add to my previous entry in this thread and not to sound above it all, I do definitely give in to the porntastic soap opera that is Game of Thrones. It's the one show on TV I will not be without. The limbic brain is there, it has needs, no use pretending otherwise. I also youtube UK shows not available in the States. I enjoy Russell Howard's Good News much as it may annoy folks whom he calls fellow countrymen. :)
     
    123456789 likes this.
  11. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2010
    Messages:
    13,984
    Likes Received:
    8,557
    Location:
    California, US
    "Flee Management" is also acceptable :)
     
    Wreybies likes this.
  12. Stacy C

    Stacy C Banned

    Joined:
    May 3, 2015
    Messages:
    272
    Likes Received:
    127
    Location:
    Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
    I'm also a cable cord-cutter, but watch some over-the-air TV. I remember watching a documentary about Kurt Vonnegut. His widow was being interviewed and she was telling a story about a day she came home from work and Kurt "was in the kitchen watching TV ...", and I thought, Kurt Vonnegut watched television ?
     
  13. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    10,742
    Likes Received:
    9,991
    Location:
    Near Sedro Woolley, Washington
    I don't usually watch series TV. I watch American football, sometimes Deadliest Catch, and the occasional cooking show. But the TV is usually off.
     
  14. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    10,462
    Likes Received:
    11,689
    I had an editor at a Big 5 publisher scold me for not watching more TV... she said entertainment trends pop back and forth between TV and books, so if I want to understand the fiction market I should be keeping an eye on the TV market as well. I can see her point, but... I don't have time!
     
  15. Eunoia

    Eunoia Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2010
    Messages:
    4,391
    Likes Received:
    81
    Location:
    England
    I don't have a TV licence or a TV so I can only watch stuff on catch up online. I don't watch much at the moment but there are periods, especially autumn, where there are quite a few programmes that I watch.

    Whilst I don't watch TV critically, I think it is useful for writing so see how stories are played out, conflict created, how we're kept engaged etc.
     
  16. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2007
    Messages:
    10,704
    Likes Received:
    3,425
    Location:
    Northeast England
    I hardly watch any TV to be honest. When I do it's either the news, films, or comedy shows like Mock the Week or QI. That's about it too.
     
  17. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2012
    Messages:
    8,102
    Likes Received:
    4,605
    True Blood, Game of Thrones, Once Upon a Time, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, Hart of Dixie...
     
  18. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2013
    Messages:
    17,674
    Likes Received:
    19,889
    Location:
    Scotland
    Not any more. I grew up in the USA without a TV in the house, so I am accustomed to not having one. However, when I moved to Scotland when I was 37 years old, I got hooked on the (then) excellent British TV offerings on my husband's TV, and watched quite a bit of it ...till around 6 years ago, when I totally lost interest in watching anything regularly. I watch so very little now, that I actually forgot how to work the TV remote! I do have lots of DVDs—TV shows I liked and movies I liked—but I don't watch them much these days either. I don't know. I might go back to them again. I might not.

    I do find that writing and reading dampens my desire to watch TV.
     
  19. BrianIff

    BrianIff I'm so piano, a bad punctuator. Contributor

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    1,288
    Likes Received:
    432
    Location:
    Canada
    I do, but I wanted to find a utopian/dystopian series and couldn't. So I decided to start watching Ellen muted and Dr. Phil on full blast.
     
  20. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2012
    Messages:
    6,631
    Likes Received:
    10,135
    Location:
    Yorkshire
    TV got me through prison. Breakfast show - all right. Weather girl - she was all right. Later, regional news anchor came on in a black and white dress. I started writing, all three of them, but no reply, so - well, you people imagine my pain.

    Somehow, banged up a second time, and this sentence only a wireless for consolation, says the judge.

    Month down, I hear her voice, back then, I think 'Sweety, your lips are too beautiful.' Medium wave, not her, not for me. Thoughts festered on the pillow, and a broken aerial saw me transferred, C wing, just a pencil.

    But, I got talent see, for drawing ladies, over my walls, on motorbikes, snakes, cutting through jungle with a knife. Now, people come visit, take a look. It's respectful. To answer the question, I don't watch TV no more.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2015
    Cave Troll and BrianIff like this.
  21. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2010
    Messages:
    6,541
    Likes Received:
    4,776
    I watch movies mostly, and sometimes a TV show if it's recommended and my husband and I would watch it together over dinner if we don't feel like talking :) Usually only one episode, sometimes two if we're into it. But yeah we own a TV to use as a monitor, but don't have TV channels on it.

    I watch more TV when I'm at my parents' because they have the TV on 24-7 (part of Chinese culture) and I find it zaps away your time like crazy! But again, usually only select shows, or I might leave it on for white noise and read rather. Or if my parents aren't home then I just switch it off so I can put on some music. Ever since I was about 14 I've turned to music rather than TV. Interestingly, my sister who's a bit of a musician (plays 4 instruments and is part of an orchestra) turns to TV rather than music - she tells me it's because she's very picky with her music. Which kinda makes sense - the same way how I'm picky with my books.
     
  22. Victoria Griffin

    Victoria Griffin Member

    Joined:
    May 25, 2015
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    28
    I watched a lot of TV growing up, at least four hours a night. My family has it on all the time. All the time, like there's no off switch. Now, I turn it on to watch Walking Dead and the occasional Yankees game—when they don't suck. The sound of it, even if someone else is watching, really irritates me now.

    I do like movies, and I watch about one a week on my laptop during meals. I usually eat alone so it's nice to have something to do.

    I would really like to know how many more words I would have written over my lifetime had I not been glued to the TV as a teen.
     
  23. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2015
    Messages:
    17,922
    Likes Received:
    27,173
    Location:
    Where cushions are comfy, and straps hold firm.
    I don't like the old boob-tube. Too much crap, and way too many channels of crap. So no I do not indulge in television. There is this amazing thing called the interwebz, check it out some time. Far superior to the old Televison, and you can view what you want on whenever you want. Movies are ok. :D
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice