Cable

[judecorp]

So Cable has been in my home for 3.5 days and already I can feel the brains in the household being sucked into that cathode ray tube. Yes, even the cats - their slotted eyes are glazing over with digital bits of mindnumbing media. Soon they will be flipping channels and hiding the remote control from each other.

It's no secret that I am resistent to the evils of Cable Television. I have never paid for cable. In fact, I have had cable three times in my life: in my childhood home, in the college dorm room that I shared with Jodie, and in my first apartment alone with A. The common denominator in this equation is that each time, I lived with someone who set up, purchased, or in other ways arranged for said cable television. When I lived alone in the dorm I distinctly did not bring a coaxial cable with me. Oh, the power!

Due to the appeal of the "cable/internet discount package" and the promise of "free installation," I have allowed Basic Digital Cable into my home for three months at the reasonable price of $18/month. No big deal, right? It's a money-saver after all. But I am already going bonkers. I suppose I am going to be one of those dreaded parents who only allows PBS and limits screen time. In the past three days, Jennifer has flipped channels and studied the digital channel guide so much that I am going cable crazy.

Yes, I have watched a few programs, and have lost brain cells to shows like "E! True Hollywood Story: American Idol." I am ashamed, nearly enough to feel the need to embroider a scarlet C on my shirts and sweaters. There is Cable Television in my home and I think I am breaking out into hives.

Save me!

Comments

[hope-persists.livejournal.com]

but just think - you could be watching jon stewart on the daily show RIGHT. NOW. hehehe

[exoteris.livejournal.com]

I just watched jon stewart on the daily show!
I highly recommend it. If he kills brain cells,
they were slated for death anyway.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

When are we slated for lunch? :)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Except that we have Basic Cable, which does not get Comedy Central.

[hope-persists.livejournal.com]

really? that's so weird. my basic cable has it.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Hunh. This one definitely doesn't. Standard cable does, but the $8/month basic cable only has network channels.

[hope-persists.livejournal.com]

ohhhhhhhhhhhh ok

[alikat774.livejournal.com]

These are the reasons. None other. My t.v. has not been plugged in since January. Nice. So very nice. Although, it can be a nice "mindnumbing" diversion at times. Think of it as that- especially with all of the changes and challenges you are both going through. Sometimes it is so appropriate to say "Enough of it all"...and turn on the Real World. Or, as mentioned above, Jon Stewart.
Be good to yourself.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

If I had Standard Cable instead of Basic Cable, I would definitely be glued to the Real World. It is such a guilty pleasure!

Thankfully, I don't have any of those channels. :)

[cfred.livejournal.com]

Hey, watch it on your terms. Don't give in to its evil.

I have a TiVo full of stuff, and all I seem to watch is Good Eats and nature documentaries. Nevermind the 16 hours of CSI sitting there, that I watch here and there.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Don't look at me - I'm not the one glued to the thing! =P

Although I /did/ watch a little "7th Heaven," I regretfully admit. That show is so ridiculous and I love it.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

control is, well, yours. I have cable here (because it's $20 a month here, and if I don't have it, I pay an extra $10 for the cable modem; so it's $10 a month for me, and I figured that would be worth it).

I've watched, in the last 2 months...the end of Friends, the end of Frasier, the end of Angel, and the DIck van Dyke Show special. And that's it.

You can easily not watch it. Honest.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have watched very little cable since I arrived. I should watch more Netflix movies, though, because I keep them too long and don't get the value out of my membership.

Aaah to be young and cheap!

[cappucinogrrl.livejournal.com]

If you have cable, you may as well watch "The Daily Show". It's the only thing on TV worth watching these days.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

But I don't get Comedy Central! Waaah!

[cappucinogrrl.livejournal.com]

No offense, but then what is the point of owning a tv if not for Jon Stewart?!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Netflix.

[hope-persists.livejournal.com]

haha see! they all agree! the daily show rules! *high fives all around*

whew, i don't know who that drunken frat boy that just took over my body was. lol.

[whod81.livejournal.com]

honey, i live you and here is soemthing VERY important for you.

NEVER EVER EVER fall asleep in the room with cable television going. Unless its sports or cartoons. It basically does to your brain what falling asleep in the sun does to your skin... except permanent.

-rv

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

MIND CANCER!!

[(Anonymous)]

We never thought we'd censor what our kids watch... but agree that the television became the center of the household when we have cable. Now that we live in the middle of nowhere New Hamster, we pay $5 a month for 12 basic channels, which includes two PBS channels... And our children are still able to zone out in front of Arthur or Sesame Street.

Then we let them watch Family Guy on DVD.

--Cran

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

That's definitely the route I would go - I'm more than willing to pay $8 here to get better reception on the basic stations. After all, if I /have/ to rot my brain in front of the TV, I'm sure I can find some reality show or other to start drooling in front of. ;)

p.s. We have to arrange a visit to you guys soon, when we have jobs and some moolah.

[juliann.livejournal.com]

I cannot be allowed in a room with a TV, most especially one with cable, or I will never leave. We have a freeview digital satellite network in the UK, so it would be about £150 to buy the equipment and then £100 a year for the TV license. But I would get BBC History channel.

I would also never do anything ever again in my entire life, except when the WWII stuff was on.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Ha, I can definitely see how you would be in big trouble with the BBC History channel. You would begin to resemble the sofa in no time! :)

The History Channel in the US is predominantly WWII stuff. It's so boring. My dad watches it 24/7. It's no wonder we call it The Hitler Channel behind his back.

[gimmeapony.livejournal.com]

cable is the work of the devil. i reluctantly broke down and got the MOST basic cable ($8/month) so that we could save $20 on our cable modem. (what the hell is up with that, anyway?) the cableguy took a shining to me when he came to install, and hence i have wayyy more channels than i should but it's not like i watch them anyway. admittedly, i spent a couple of evenings watching MTV but promptly realized that it sucks.

Basic Cable

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was my plan all along - to get the $8 cable package and save $20 on internet (because, like you, I was like WTF, is this real?). But then when Jen called to set it up, she found that if we got Digital Basic cable for 3 months ($18), we would get free installation and cable internet for 3 months for $19. So we went with that.

In three months, Digital Basic go bye bye and HELLLOOOOOO $8!

[kungfoogirl.livejournal.com]

I hate cable TV, with the exception of a few shows. I watch Queer As Folk, The Sopranos and Six Feet Under.

I watch movies a lot more often, because Chunk is better than anything Friends ever could have offered.

Despite who I work for, I HATE the brainless way people watch television. They just stare at the screen slack-jawed and nearly drooling. And I get that way too when I watch TV. It just pisses me off.

Anyways, I am definately going to be one of those "limited TV time" moms. My children can READ all they want. They can play outside all they want. But TV? Very limited. I know I'll be dooming my children to a certain amount of ridicule. But raising smart and active children is important. And I think that too much television is in direct conflict with that goal.

You'd think I worked for someone OTHER than the largest media company in the world.....

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Ha - this is all so funny considering where you work!

But yes, I'd much rather have my TV on playing Netflix movies than mindless cable programming. In fact, I've noticed that since we got cable, we've only watched one Netflix movie, which is totally unacceptable to me - because I want to watch the movies on my queue, dammit! (Note to self: watch a movie today.)

Mwah.

[folkyboy.livejournal.com]

if you think cable is bad just NEVER get TiVO....

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

TiVO is the Devil in the Hell that is Cable. REPENT!!

[sudrin.livejournal.com]

Just you wait until I buy you two a TiVo for Christmas.. You'll sit in front of it eating bon-bons.. MUAHAHAHAHAHA

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I promise you that I will sit in front of the TV eating bon-bons if you will pay my rent.

Promise.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

It's just the novelty of it, it'll wear off. :-D

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I hope so!!

[zuzubailey76.livejournal.com]

You should just watch Bravo; West Wing is on it like 5 times a day.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Bravo's not included. :(

[zuzubailey76.livejournal.com]

WHAT? That's horrible! Everyone needs Bravo, I'm telling you! Everyone!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you can use your West Wing knowledge and petition my cable company, and even offer testimony!

God Bless America

[zuzubailey76.livejournal.com]

I COULD! I mean, it's a show about THE WHITE HOUSE, for crying out loud. It's educational TV, and to withhold it from the public in this manner is positively UN-AMERICAN.

Re: God Bless America

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I think you should take this straight to G-Dub. Clearly this is a cause that he can wrap himself around!

Re: God Bless America

[zuzubailey76.livejournal.com]

Ha...actually, he's made it clear that's he's not all about WW. After all, Sorkin admitted that he used Bartlet's re-election campaign as a way to re-write the Bush/Gore election so the Democrats would come out on top. Oh, and the cast was invited to the Clinton White House on more than one occasion, but they've never received any invitations from Bush. I guess some people just don't understand TRUE PATRIOTIC ART.

[I do have a life outside of West Wing, I PROMISE.]

Re: God Bless America

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Wow - you are even more obsessed than I ever imagined. That's impressive!

(Still, if you're going to be addicted to a TV show, there are MUCH worse TV shows.) :)

[rachelmichellek.livejournal.com]

didn't we all split cable at the dorchester apartment? or is that the A. apartment you're talking about?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we all split it but I never watched it. I put in my percent and I don't know that I ever turned it on.

Remember when you and Jill watered the TV?

Paying for cable makes me sad

[siercia]

Since we shell out an ungodly amount of money for it every month, and there's so SELDOM anything on that I want to watch. Wiley says it's just because we can never agree on anything - while I have little doubt that may be true for him, the honest truth is that even when he's not here, I usually can't find anything I really want to watch.

But of all the shows that we go out of our way to watch, maybe one (West Wing) is non-(specialty) cable. Hardly seems far to Wiley to cancel HBO now that S&tC is over, when he loves Sopranos and Deadwood. We both like Six Feet Under, and then Wiley would die (he thinks) if he didn't get to watch his Formula One races.

Personally, I think I could turn it off in a second, and just really work the Netflix membership instead.

Re: Paying for cable makes me sad

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that we could easily be paying ungodly amounts for ungodly amounts of cable if I didn't get so cranky every time it gets brought up. I know that Jen would likely love to budget a little more of our income to cable television, especially because she likes channels like Sci-Fi and Bravo, and she definitely would like to watch Queer as Folk and The L Word on Showtime.

Personally, I think "borrowing" other people's cable is a great way to socialize for those must-see shows.

Either way, I hate the fact that cable has now usurped Netflix movie watching. I am so behind on movies and not really getting my money's worth in my membership right now. Suck. Maybe I should set up the television in the spare bedroom so that we can have *cue music* dueling televisions! (How gross.)