All Too Real

Outside of news-and-weather coverage, I generally watch about three hours of programmed TV a week — two of which were on Wednesdays. So last night, I checked out TV Guide to see if my shows were new or re-runs. I got one network wrong — I thought Birds of Prey was on FOX. Its actual home, I now recall, was The WB, but I can't find information on it anymore, so I guess it's been cancelled. One down. My errant choice, FOX, was running what Bj watched: Night 2 of American Idol 2. No offense, but: blech. I'm with Scott on that one. UPN, home of Enterprise, was running a basketball game — which, let's be honest, isn't much different than reality TV, except all the participants make more in a year than I will in my lifetime, not just the so-called "winner." The network that company loyalty suggests I should want to watch (but is not part of my routine, 401(k) and stock price be damned) was running The Bachelorette — more reality.

I still don't get the "Reality TV" thing. I never have. I didn't enjoy the America's Funniest Home Videos franchise. I couldn't have cared less about Survivor 1, 2, 3, 4, or whatever number they're up to today, or Big Brother's incarnations. (I have watched roughly 10 minutes of each of those series.) When I watch TV, I either want to be informed or entertained. I don't find watching real people's staged-for-TV lives entertaining. I find it too much like modernized Candid Camera, with a new element of exploitation and greed thrown in for today's discerning tastes.

I don't remember if it was during the Survivor craze or another, but I remember looking up the winner on the web first thing in the morning so I wouldn't look so "out of it" at work. I haven't done that since. It occurred to me on Sunday, when they were running NFL playoff games at the bar, that I had no idea who was playing (or even that the Super Bowl is this Sunday?), and maybe I should "keep up." Of course, it hit me that I go there because I don't have to worry about faking anything to "fit in," so why would I start for football?

So last night, the TV remained dark. I probably only saved pennies in electricity — yes, I tried to look that up — but I'll just smile in the knowledge that I finished a project at home I wouldn't have otherwise even started, and still managed to fall blissfully asleep by 9:30.