Today, for the first time in over 10 years, I let the devil in and had cable tv connected to my home. What finally cracked me was that the day after the olympics ended, we had our cbc feed axed by global (thanks global). A month and a half of fiddling with various atennas and getting no hockey, National, Rick Mercer or CBC Kids (yes, I missed that too) was enough to get me to shelve both the pride and ideals. I wasn't even sure I was Canadian anymore. After playoffs are over I guess we'll have to decide whether to keep it or just hang on to the tv for movies.
At first glance I'm thrilled by the non-fuzzy reception and all the choices but appalled at the garish commercials and American style pop-celebrity focus on so many shows as I flip past. I've been sheltered by low budget Canadian content for years and have been pompously proud of my pop culture ignorance. The interesting part of this will be to see how much more I watch...right now I'm averaging about an hour a week.
7 comments:
Watching Rick Mercer last night totally made it worth the $10 for this month.
Have fun enjoying the TV while you have it! We didn't get anything until last May and while we didn't even get local channels, I didn't really miss it. But, I do love it now! We have a PVR for our satellite and it makes it nice for catching up on my two shows a week when I'm at work :) And I can't complain about it occupying Zach some days.
I like the approach of having a couple of favorite shows - including kids ones - but not turning it on whenever I have a free moment. So far it's been perfect for that but also kind of seems like an unnecessary luxury. Rick Mercer again tonite of course.
I understand the battle and the surrender. Unfortunately, I also have to admit that I'm so validated that you have now subscribed to cable. Alas, I am so please with shows, such as the RMR, The Passionate Eye and other CBC delights. I also love TCM (Turner Classic Movies) and Seinfeld as often as possible. But, there are guilty pleasures as well - not worth mentioning here of course - which can suck time outta ya. Beware of the home reno shows - they are all-the-rave and Home Depot stocks show it!
Anyway, excellent post and happy Tube to you.
Update: still not watching any more tv and am starting to feel bad about the waste of money, not the waste of time. I've caught a few shows on the knowledge network and had my fill of hockey. RMR is over for the season and I don't really like the news anyway. Maybe if I had more spare time and it was dark and cold it would seem more compelling.
Esther, those bits of home reno shows I've seen are a piece of work. Compelling to watch in a train wreck sort of way, in very small doses. I'm sure the longer we have cable the more likely I am to find a few niche shows that I really like the way you have. I'll wait and see if they're too embarassing to post when the time comes.
I know that feeling. Sometimes I think we should cancel it, but it's no nice on crappy days like today to turn on Treehouse and let Zach watch it while I snooze on the cough :)
A tough call to finally let cable in. We have had satellite since we were first married - and it does suck out of us a lot of time and energy, which is horribly embarassing. The summer does bring with it a pull to the outdoors, however, and I know our TV watching will decrease significantly now. My bigger concern is TV in the house with kids. Some of the stuff on Prime Time freaks the @#$% out of me. Either the tube will be out the door, or some serious rules and regulations will apply.
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