Why I Don't Love Watching TV Anymore

My husband and I are currently watching the second season of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and we are completely sucked in. We have no idea what each episode will bring and the characters are so deeply developed that even their bad traits are endearing. Another bonus, no commercials! We are not the binge-watching type. We ration out the episodes so that we can enjoy it longer. But this love affair with a television show is an anomaly for us. The truth is that with the exception of the occasional series, documentary, and some cooking shows, we are generally unenthusiastic about TV. I used to love certain channels, such as E!, Food Network, and HGTV, but I find myself not even looking to see what's on them anymore. I don't check because I know what is going to be on. In all likelihood, it will be a marathon on Chopped on Food Network and Keeping Up With The Kardashians (I like the show, but all day, everyday is a bit much) on E! I may be in the minority here, but I feel the death of cable TV is the marathon. I know for some, when they love a show, there is no sweeter word than marathon because it means one can enjoy their favorite show all day. What it means for everyone else that doesn't care for that one show is that we can't watch that channel today. I know I may be exaggerating here, but I sweat the marathons aren't just for a day, but for weeks! So because I don't want to keep us with the Kardashians all day, I no longer watch E!. Also because I think food should be happy and not stressful, I don't watch Food Network anymore because I don't want to watch Chopped all evening. I guess that is why there is a rise in people watching shows specially made for Netflix and Amazon Prime. At least there, people can choose what they want to binge-watch all day. I know the cost of these subscription services saves us money compared to the racket that is cable, but it is very likely the programs are just better. Prime time and cable TV has taken a nose dive in my opinion but I guess that is just things changing around us as time goes by. I think that a lot of people do in fact agree with this idea. After all of the reboots being made and demand for others, people don't want something new, they want what they like. In my opinion, they want to watch what they watched when regular television was great.

For those who feel this way, the following are more reasons why I think television has become uninteresting. You might agree with some of them.

Every now and gain, I will find a show that I get excited about and I will seem to like, for a while. The problem is that after watching a couple of episodes, I will find my attention drifting. Why? Because often shows follow a formula and episode after episode it is the same. If you have seen one, you have seen them all. I understand a lot of people like that but to me it is so disappointing.

I used to love daytime television. I still watch it but I’m not as glues to it as i used to be. I remember the excitement I would feel when cleaning or beauty tips would come on. Then they would tell you what the best cleaner or skin cream was. My mom and I would take it as the gospel and run out and buy it immediately. It was an exciting feeling. Well now, thanks to my husband, I now know that when a product is mentioned, it is a commercial. We all know traditional commercials are commercials and we take it for what it is. Now I know that so often we miss the hidden advertisements in our favorite shows. I don’t know if I am glad that i am aware of this now so i can be a more informed consumer or if I miss being ignorant but I do miss loving and being excited to see these shows with all the good information I used to feel they would give.

I get it, in between segments of a show, there are commercials. It's unavoidable when watching television and it has been going on since the dawn of television. My husband and I observed the other day while watching HGTV the excessive use of "bugs." Those are the little advertisements for shows that are in a corner of your screen during shows. They are not supposed to be invasive, but I feel they are.They were playing the same commercial over and over for this one new show in between programming and during precious program time (with the use of bugs) to a point that it had about turned us off of HGTV entirely. Again, you don't get that with Amazon Prime or Netflix shows.

My husband and I have tried watching a couple very popular prime time shows and although the shows are pretty good, we find ourselves not liking the characters. People are being portrayed so shallow and angry these days. Can one be entertaining anymore without seeming ugly? Don't get me wrong, I love sarcasm, but so many characters on prime time TV just seem angry all the time.

If I’m watching a house flipping show, I don’t want to see marital problems or have people that are professionals and really good at their craft act like they didn’t know they would need a new roof. An amateur could tell just at first glance of the house. Anyone who has done any work on a house knows that there is enough drama that happens without having to create it. Id rather learn about construction and design on my house flipping shows and if I want to watch relationship drama, I will watch the real housewives of where ever.