Confessions of a Recovering Junkie
by Lance Thompson
I had a bad habit. I started when I was young, and always thought I could control it, but I could never get enough, and when I was deprived, the cravings were intense. One day, circumstances forced me to quit, cold turkey. It wasn’t my choice, but it was my good fortune. It’s been a year, and I’m still clean–no television signals coming into the house.
When I was a kid, the drug was not very powerful–three channels, black and white. It started innocently with a couple of shows after dinner, then on weekends, and after school. It became more seductive with color sets and as favorite shows switched from shades of gray to rainbow hues–Combat, The Fugitive, even Andy Griffith.
In high school, when other kids were involved in sports or social activities, I continued to feed the habit. There wasn’t a moment to spare on weekends--The Rockford Files was on Friday nights, and Saturday was the CBS lineup of All in the Family, Mary Tyler Moore, The Bob Newhart Show, MASH and The Carol Burnett Show. Then Monty Python showed up on PBS. There was no time for anything else.
In college, while most other dorm residents considered a stereo system the most vital piece of electronic equipment (this was before computers), I happily hooked up a portable color TV and aimed its aerial toward the transmission towers. I rationalized that it was necessary to my academic major–motion picture/television–but for me it was a security blanket of broadcast entertainment.
My career in motion picture advertising and script writing allowed me to continue the excuses. I needed the TV to see the spots I helped create or watch the shows I wanted to write for. It was a necessary tool, but the truth was, I was the poster child for Must See TV. I could say it was part of my job, so the TV was on while I worked, when I relaxed, when I wasn’t even in the room.
Then CNN came up with 24-hour news, and I saw the riveting images of the first Gulf War on a TV set in a pizza parlor. I remember the film of Vietnam that was air-mailed home to be shown on the nightly news, but this was live, front-line coverage, 24 hours a day, with video of bombs dropping, missiles launching, tanks rolling across the desert. It was history as it happened. Surely, there was no way I could turn this off.
Then came FoxNews, with the same incessant events and commentary, but with a conservative bent. Suddenly, I was following elections, campaigns, candidates, issues. September 11th, everyone was glued to the TV, watching as one unbelievable and horrifying image replaced the last. There was always something on, something that demanded to be seen.
Then my venerable Sony 27-inch gave out, finances were tight, we couldn’t afford one of those cool new flat panel jobs. We were moving out of state, we’ll get the new set when we get settled.
Withdrawal was hard at first, but there were distractions–packing, repairs, moving. The same in reverse at the new house. Days went by, then weeks with no television. The surprising part was, it got easier every day.
Sure, I missed the FoxNews gang–Brit Hume, Chris Wallace, Bill O’Reilly. But I didn’t miss the wall-to-wall coverage of celebrity excesses, missing person cases, lurid trials and spring break bacchanalia. I didn’t miss the contrived debates between partisan pundits, the MSM’s delight in detailing our setbacks in Iraq or their refusal to highlight our triumphs. I didn’t miss the breathless polls, the tragedy of the week, or the coverage of the coverage.
There were fine examples of episodic TV I’d miss–The Shield, Boston Legal, the Dick Wolf franchises. But the vast majority was neither entertaining nor original, so that was not much of a sacrifice. Old movies and documentaries were always on at my house, but the constant commercial interruptions for products and remedies that required awkward explanation to my nine year old daughter would not be missed.
My work finally necessitated that we get a new television–a cool flat panel, not very large, so that I can watch the movies whose marketing campaigns I help create. We also use it for DVD’s that we rent or buy or borrow from the library. But we don’t get broadcast or cable signals, not even local stations. My daughter’s friends at school ask if she’s Amish.
News comes from the internet–Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, periodicals and local news sources all have online representation now. But I can pick and choose the stories I follow rather than just watching whatever the news director thinks will pull in the most viewers.
Adjustments were made, but they weren’t arduous. And there have been numerous benefits. Fifty bucks a month is what cable cost in Los Angeles, where we used to live. Six hundred a year saved. That feels good.
There’s also a great deal more time. I don’t know how many hours I devoted to just watching whatever was on, but I’ve reclaimed that time now. I’ve read about fifty books in the last year, quite an increase from the TV days. I spend more time with my daughter, with no blaring box competing for our attention. I have time to write, teach, or just sit back and relax to good music.
My attitude, I am told by those in a position to notice, has vastly improved. Less irritable, more positive, more willing to go on a walk, play a board game, or go to the theater. This may be due to the smaller, friendlier town we moved to, but a brighter perspective can at least be partially explained by a lack of daily doses of loud, sensational AV input.
The house is quieter and more relaxed. There always used to be breaking news, or bulletins, or just overly insistent commercials to underline the unexpected hazards and calamities that seemed to occur with alarming regularity. There are still crises in the world, in the country, right here in our town. We’re aware of them, but we aren’t treated to the most graphic and disturbing video coverage of those events, and they now seem as far away as they really are.
TV was a habit I never thought I’d break, and, like all addicts, I know I’m never really cured. But a year has passed unplugged, and it feels great. I recommend it.
