I've never been a huge television watcher. We didn't have a lot of access when we were kids (there was only one black and white station, after all) and it was never really an issue. In my late teens and early twenties, my flatmates and I didn't even have a television (we used to go to the Hopetoun to watch Melrose Place on Tuesdays and that was it for the week!).
These days I watch a few shows here and there. Grey's Anatomy hooked me in and even though it got really dumb and unfunny at least four years ago, I still watch it and try to smile (although the other night when they all burst into song in the ICU for some inexplicable reason, that was very, very hard to do). Same goes for Survivor - I've been an avid viewer for ten years and I know the show so well I could easily be Jeff's understudy. I also tune in religiously to So You Think You Can Dance and am a confirmed Gleek (although I only watch it for Sue Sylvester's lines and Puckerman's, well, lines). Every now and then I watch Dr Phil at work because Dr Phil is my guru and he's way more interesting than work. And sometimes I catch Spicks and Specks because I have a girl-crush on Myf. And I find myself watching How I Met Your Mother with remarkable regularity considering I don't actually watch that show.
There are plenty of other shows on television that I'm sure are 'must sees'. And there are many conversations that I'm instantly tuned out of because no, I didn't watch Packed to the Rafters / Law and Order / Sex and the City / Ally McBeal / The Bill / Insert 'Must See' Show last night.
I could say that I don't have the time, but I always think you make the time for the things you like. When it all comes down to it, television isn't really that much different to a good book - you get a bit lost in another world for a little while. Beyond the 'learning to read' stage, I don't think TV is any more passive an activity than reading, especially as it's rare for me to 'challenge' myself with a great work of literature these days - most of what I pick up is crime / thriller paperback stuff and I'm okay with that. But getting hooked on a television show is a little bit like watching someone else live your best life for you*. Only their life is so much more interesting and exciting than yours. So maybe with TV, I just can't handle the feeling of inadequacy?
But what show do you think I'm really missing out on?
What's your favourite?
* Yeah, okay, so maybe I watch Oprah from time to time too...