Losing interest in TV?

[Warped9]

This happened to me about two years ago.

Like so many other people when I was a kid and into my teens and 20s and 30s I watched quite a bit of television. In my 40s I started to taper off as my interests and tastes became more focused and particular. And it stayed that way up until two years ago.

I used to have my staple of regular shows that I enjoyed tuning into and keeping up with, but now that's all but gone. I used to watch a sitcom or two, the L&O shows, History Television and Discovery, but two years ago that all but totally faded. Now the only thing I'm interested to see is Season 5 of Mad Men and the periodic hockey game. Otherwise my television is used solely to watch films on dvd I've picked up or the occasional old TV series I've picked up on dvd. But new television programming in general has just gone off my radar.

I still think about some shows I used to watch, and some of them are still on, but I guess I'm not interested enough anymore because I don't make the effort to catch or record them for later viewing. I find I'd rather read or work on my own little projects.

Anyone experiencing something similar?

 

[RoJoHen]

There is not a single show on TV that I watch regularly anymore. I used to plan my nights around the TV shows that were on, but now I honestly don't care. It's probably because I worked nights for 5 years and so didn't really get the chance to watch TV during primetime. Out of sight, out of mind.

If I watch a show now, it's after the seasons have already been released on DVD.

 

[TrekkieMonster]

I'm in pretty much the same place, Warped9. In recent years the shows I care about have dwindled to almost nothing. Even the "geek shows" that I read about on here and that everyone seems to love don't really grab me enough to for me to make an effort to watch or record.

The only exceptions currently are Mad Men, which I do still enjoy and will make an effort to watch when it returns, and Big Bang Theory, which never fails to make me laugh out loud. Otherwise, I'd rather read or write or listen to music or do pretty much anything but watch TV. Don't know what's changed more, though: TV or me.

 

[Amaris]

I do the same. The only show I watch with any regularity is MLP, and that comes on at 9 AM Saturday morning, and I happen to be up. Otherwise, everything's either Netflix or DVD.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I watch exactly two TV shows that are on now: Law & Order: SVU and This Week In Baseball. Apart from that, it's zilch. Zip. Nada. Bupkes. It's why I dropped cable - SVU I can get from iTunes (also from NBC's site), and TWIB is available free right here.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, it's happened now and then. My big problem comes with having so many channels with things with so little interest. We're actually going to be trimming down the channels soon as our cable bill is going up higher. For me, it's the reality shows that push me away from it, because at any given time whenever I feel like watching something, most of it is reality shows and it seems like that's all that airs anymore.

 

[Amaris]

It's hard to cut channels, if only because the decent channels are usually in the upper tier. You might have 3 good channels in the base package, and then nothing good until Super Ultra Premium Gold Platinum Diamond Tiara package which is $60 more a month. They know this and do this on purpose, which is why reasonable a la carte packaging will not happen. I mean, come on, what was once a basic cable channel now sits in the Premium Plus package? Yeah, sure.

 

[sidious618]

As far as I'm concerned there's never been a better time to be a TV watcher when you have shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Justified, Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire around.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I never watched much television to begin with - Star Trek (which I then collected on DVD anyway), a few other sci-fi shows, documentaries (particularly nature documentaries), and a few random spices like The Simpsons and Have I Got News For You. Then I went to university, and didn't bother buying a TV licence seeing as I so rarely watched anything I couldn't find on DVD. After three years at university, I'm out of the habit completely. I might watch a documentary that seems interesting, but other than that TV and I have gone our separate ways. The internet, on the other hand...

 

[SeerSGB]

Outside of DVDs or the local news during a weather event, I haven't used my TV in just about 3 months now. I watch everything online or in DVD season sets. And with the 'net you get a bigger selection of what's out there, and every once and while you'll run across a low-budget/indie 'net series that's pretty enjoyable to watch.

 

[WillsBabe]

I'd say I've lost interest in tv. Started about 18 months ago, maybe after the writers strike. There are still a couple of shows I'm interested in, and would buy dvds to watch, but I have pretty much no interest in "turning on the tv" of an evening to see what's on.

 

[Deks]

I lost interest in TV over 8 years ago (close to 9)... and I'm 28.

I figured even back then that TV doesn't really have anything of substance to offer.
Besides, the Internet easily delivers the media I tell it to.

TV set is good to use for example if you connect your laptop of a computer onto a huge screen for example.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I totally agree with you. I don't watch any "live" television any longer. I DVR everything I watch, the last TV show I HAD to watch was Lost and towards the end, even that I only watched DVRed.

Hate to say it, but my favorite TV shows are: Top Chef, Project Runway, Hells Kitchen/Kitchen Nightmares, Holmes on Homes/Holmes Inspection, Modern Family, Mike & Molly, American Chopper, & How I Met Your Mother.

I just watched Person of Interest, which I did enjoy so that will stay on the DVR to record. I also have Pan Am to watch and Terra Nova going tonight, who knows when I will actually watch it.

As you can see from my list, its a lot of reality shows. If I do watch "live" TV, I'm watching whats ever on HGTV or FoodNetwork, like House Hunters or Diners, Drive ins & Dives.

 

[Amaris]

I think part of it is the desire to interact. I like the internet because I can interact with the medium. I can add to or take away, and kind of customize it to my preference. TV still works only one way, from the screen to you. That's changing, of course, and I expect in time interaction will be common, though I hope it's well handled than past attempts at interactive TV.

That said, sometimes I do like to just sit back and watch instead of participate. For that, I use my DVD player or Netflix. Broadcast TV just has so little to offer me, I pretty much ignore it.

 

[Goliath]

As far as I'm concerned there's never been a better time to be a TV watcher when you have shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Justified, Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire around.

That's true. But I watch shows like these on DVD.

I haven't had cable or watched broadcast TV regularly for about seven years. The only times I "watch TV" anymore is when I'm staying at a hotel.

 

[stonester1]

The Daily Show, Colbert Report, the news, C-Span, public television and a few shows (Doctor Who, Fringe, True Blood, A Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, tho these I'm content to wait until they come out on DVD). Thinking about trying Mad Men.

I'll try any show Joss Whedon, Aaron Sorkin or JJ Abrams are behind. But that aside, not much of a TV guy myself. I don't have a cable or dish right now and if I ever do get them again, it'll be a la carte, along those lines, which I hear are available now.

I've no interest in having what passes for MTV, the Golf Channel or the Home Shopping Network coming into my house.

 

[Shatnertage]

I've just about totally lost interest.

Part of it is that with the kids and a lot of work to do, I just don't have the time to watch a lot of stuff anymore. Right now I've got my jaunt through DS9 (Netflix), Doctor Who (DVR it, still haven't seen Saturday's episode), and Project Runway, which I really look forward to.

I DVRed The Hour on BBCA--I'll watch it when I get a chance.

 

[stonester1]

Oh, I am interested in Blood and Chrome, any new Star Trek series, and will try any new space opera that happens to come out.

 

[Saito S]

I lost interest in TV quite some time ago. Haven't even had cable in about four years; we realized we really weren't using it, and cancelled. Then, a couple years ago, I moved into a new place with a new roommate, and neither of us even gave any thought to getting cable.

I watched a LOT of TV when I was a kid, but far less as I got older. I used to watch the original L&O, but ended up seeing the last few seasons via iTunes. Watched Star Trek of course, but that was quite some time ago, and now I have DVDs for that. As others in this thread have said, I'm not sure what changed more: me or the shows on TV. I have a pretty nice HDTV, and if its on, I'm either watching anime (most of which wouldn't even be shown on US TV anyway), watching something on disc/Netflix, or gaming.

I'll try any show Joss Whedon, Aaron Sorkin or JJ Abrams are behind.

I LOVED Firefly; Fox's treatment of that show constitutes a crime against humanity. On the other hand, I didn't like Buffy or Angel at all, so I'm sort of at 50/50 on Whedon. In seriousness though, I would be at the very least curious about any new production he's involved in.

Never could get into Lost.

Oh, I am interested in Blood and Chrome, any new Star Trek series, and will try any new space opera that happens to come out.

IF we ever see a new Trek series (my money says no), again, I would at least be curious to check it out. Same with, as you say, "any new space opera"; seems like a genre that has dried up on TV for the most part...

 

[Lowdarzz]

Except for the news, there is nothing on television that I watch anymore. Any television viewing I do now is an old show on DVD that I either own or have borrowed from the library.

I'm watching Doctor Who, the William Hartnell years from the early 60's, and the original Twilight Zone. These shows are just so much better than the cop and doctor turds they're coming out with now.

The last two shows that I watched regularly on the tube were Star Trek: Enterprise and Stargate: SG-1 and they've both been off the air for years.