Kill Your Television (or at least wound it).

I won't pretend that my motives were pure when we pulled the plug on DirecTV, but they were somewhat selfless.  Though we paid $80/month for our service, it wasn't the cost that caused us to cut off the service but the impending arrival of our first child.

My wife's family has a history of autism and the Cornell University study among others, made us worry about video's effect on our soon to be newborn.  I'm not alleging that autism is absolutely caused by TV, but it seems that it may be triggered or exacerbated in susceptible individuals by a steady diet of the flickering light from our idiot box.  Just to be safe, we've decided to go TV-free and I've discovered there are benefits.

I'm a child of the video generation.  I was born in 1966 and was raised with the tube.  We didn't have color TV in our house until almost 1980, but Big Bird, Miss Sally,Bozo the Clown, and (for you Chicagoans) Ray Rayner were my near constant companions as a child.

I'm now in the first stages of withdrawal from the tube - drawdown. We kept our TV intact, and do occasionally watch shows on over-the air television (like the disappointing Persuasion on PBS last Sunday), but mostly we use the TV for Netflix and other DVD's.

What I've found is that it hasn't really been that hard to adjust.

I haven't given up video entertainment.  In my down time I will occasionally watch episodes of BBC TV series like MI-5, Black Books, Doctor Who, The IT Crowd, and the like on my computer, and we toss in the occasional movie, but its much more purposeful and I don't find myself watching old Friends or Seinfeld reruns I've seen six times before just because that's what's on.

I also don't watch is the flood of crap on cable and satellite. I don't have to worry about happening across Glenn Beck or Nancy Grace or Bill O'Reilly at all. I don't have to see Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton while I sit on my couch.

Since we killed cable, I've read three times as much as I was, plowing through the John Mortimer Rumpole omnibuses and am halfway through a book on the nature of the universe.

And I have more time.

My wife and I connect more (of course her growing little baby bump might help that as well).  We talk more. I cook. We both read and listen to music and go for walks and exercise more than we used to.  Our house is cleaner.  Those little projects around the house get done.

The best bonus is that since I don't pay a cable or satellite fee, I don't support all the channels that come with basic cable.  When I sit back and do watch a show, I don't have that nagging annoyance in the back of my mind that a few dollars from my budget every month is being diverted through my cable company to Fox News and the blathering windbags on hate cable.

It may still be difficult to go completely off the tube, and we haven't decided yet how to handle the computer when the little one comes in May, but I can't recommend more highly killing your television (or at least wounding it).

•  We only get two or three channels in clearly now

  And happily PBS is crystal clear.  I enjoyed the PBS show last night on the conquest of cold.

  Our intent is to expose our children to TV later in life when they've had time to develop without its influence.  We don't want them to be complete social outcasts, just prudent consumers of television.

  by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:00:55 AM PDT

  •  hubby and I

    got rid of TV a long time ago. I must admit, I still miss it, and in my weak moments I still find myself thumbing through the junk ads looking for satelite deals. But, really, I know that we are better for it, for many of the reasons you state. The only problem is, one has to be INCREDIBLY careful that they don't replace the TV with the internet or video games. When we got rid of the TV, our internet usage increased A LOT.

    by flautist on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:06:30 AM PDT

    •  I know what you mean

      My in-laws were in town this last weekend.  They don't have cable or internet and my mother-in-law was HYPNOTIZED by my wife's laptop.  Mostly she was doing sudokus online.

      by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:23:01 AM PDT

  •  Kill my TV? Never!

    Seriously, I would love to watch less TV, and save on the outrageous amount of $ I pay for HD cable, DVR, HBO, et cetera.

    It really is pathetic how much time out of this realtively short life I waste in front of the tube.

    Good for you.

    by cato on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:46:10 AM PDT

•  Apropos of nothing...

  ...don't watch MI-5 on TV.  They cut the show to pieces to fit 15 minutes of advertising into an hour slot.  Watch it on DVD.

  by DH from MD on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:02:31 AM PDT

  •  I am actually

    But it's original name doesn't translate so well to American.

    by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:06:27 AM PDT

    •  I know it's original name

      I also know why they chose "MI-5" over it's original name.

      I've only ever watched the show on DVD's released by A&E and BBC America.  I've opted not to watch it on TV because the networks butcher the show.

      by DH from MD on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:10:57 AM PDT

•  I prefer renting DVDs

  You get to chose what you want to watch, and you only pay for what you watch. Much cheaper than $80 per month!

  by GW Chimpzilla on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:03:31 AM PDT

  •  Indeed

    I've never been happier with a product than I am with Netflix. My first movie I rented from them was "Nostferatu," and that was about three years ago.

    Since then, my queue has never been shorter than 100 titles.

    by droogie6655321 on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:37:17 AM PDT

    •  PS:

      Movies are our hobby, really. We'll spend an afternoon or night watching Trainspotting or Metropolis or Hotel Rwanda and then stay up talking about it.

      Plus, we always know when we're being too "couch potato" about it. When that happens, we take the dog out or something.

      by droogie6655321 on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:41:29 AM PDT

      •  Did you see their reaction to Apple yesterday?

        Apple came out with a box that lets you rent movies through iTunes.  Netflix responded by making its streaming service unlimited for anyone but those on the $5 plan.

        I haven't tried it yet, but the idea is very appealing.

        by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:44:07 AM PDT

        •  Oh, yeah

          The Watch Now feature is great. The only thing I didn't like about it was that you could "run out" of viewing time.

          Netflix is just a winning business model. It's movies for people who love movies. Sure, Apple is great for gadget people, and Blockbuster is probably better for you if "White Chicks" is your favorite movie, but I'll keep my Netflix.

          by droogie6655321 on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:47:42 AM PDT

•  Great diary!

  Because, you know, the revolution will not be televised!

  Seriously, I love this. I'm trying to convince my husband to get rid of the TV in the living room. We have three TVs, one in the LR, one in our bedroom, and one in our daughter's bedroom. We have cable, which I would like to cut back to the most basic, which is like 25 channels and no digital. He's not convinced. I think I'm going to e-mail him a link to this diary. Thanks!

  by belly on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:06:59 AM PDT

  •  I live on

    a steady diet of Discovery Times, Discovery, TLC, History, History International, the Independent Film Channel, etc.  There is decent stuff out there.  While these channels will throw in some complete garbage (UFOs, history of the bible), I absolutely love shows like The Universe (I learned more about how the sun works from that show than I did in 19 years of education). I watched a 2-hour show about theories of the origins of the universe, after which I think I might actually be eligible for a master's degree.  I think it's a shame to throw it all out.  You can block channels.  We really should push harder for ala carte cable choices, so you could exclude 99% of the crap and just pay for the decent channels.

    by milton333 on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:37:42 AM PDT

    •  I like a lot of that stuff too

      And I do like the Universe and a couple of other shows on HC. But I really hate those weather shows that seem tilted toward those freaks that populate the weather channel message board. You know, the one's who are all, this weather is God manifest! It's so crisis oriented. What IF a big meteor hit during a category 5 hurricane?

      That said, the shows I like are why I'm lobbying for no LR TV, but have not lobbied against bedroom TVs. I think it'll dramatically reduce the amount of time we as a family spends on the tube. My strategy is that it'll encourage more planned television. And if there's a show we all want to watch, the kiddo is always welcome in our bedroom. (Well, not always. Heh.)

      by belly on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:44:53 AM PDT

•  We gave it up years ago

  when our son (now 24) was four. Our daughter never saw it in her home. Masterpiece Theater for me and the "Sweet 16" for Mr Meerkoet were most missed - but we got over it. Friends invite us over for the occasional football or basketball game. We are the family that invites folks in for idiosyncratic evenings of entertainment - caroling (though we are not religious) over the holidays, homemade quiz evenings on the enlightenment, musical evenings, poetry evenings, and play readings. Our son and daughter have survived nicely. Our son(now in his second year of graduate school in Molecular and Cell Biology) has thanked us many times. And, our daughter - a junior in high school has nary a complaint. Killing it frees your soul and your mind.

  by meerkoet on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:08:14 AM PDT

  •  Thanks.

    You've got some very good examples there of activities we haven't done much that we'll try to switch to.

    by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:11:35 AM PDT

•  My teevee is already retired.

  Lousy reception without cable.  Refuse to buy cable.  Refuse to upgrade so I can be part of the disposal culture in 2009.  I use the set as a plant holder -- it is a pain to dust, however.

  by gchaucer2 on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:09:19 AM PDT

•  I can only say

  you are a better person than I.  I wish you well in your pursuit of a non-TV lifestyle.  I am not sure I could do it.

  Here's a little mojo for your effort.

  by Nick A on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:13:06 AM PDT

  •  Give it a shot!

    Keep your cable, but don't watch for a week.  The first few days are hard since you won't now what to do with all the time, but it gets easier and easier.

    by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:19:23 AM PDT

•  you've done a good thing

  I always have been surprised by the extent to which television is a forgettable habit. I've taken a more than a few lengthy overseas trips where I was totally disconnected from this form of alleged entertainment, and I didn't miss it one bit, not even the football.  So much for "must see TV."  Like the song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, entitled "Throw Away Your Television":

  Throw away your television
  Take the noose off your ambition
  Reinvent your intuition now

  That brings me to one of my pet peeves, which is the presence of televisions in restaurants, gates at the airport, building lobbies, physician waiting rooms, and elsewhere.  It's like an adult version of a child's pacifier.  Try concentrating on a book over the noise!  I feel like I am being forced to watch whether I like it or not, and the content, more often than not, is Fox.

  by eightlivesleft on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:17:44 AM PDT

  •  TV's in bars has always been a pet peeve

    (except sports bars when the game is on).  I can't stand when you're having a few beers with friends and one of them has their neck craned up, urging the contestant to buy a vowel.

    by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:25:27 AM PDT

•  Good move, nightsweat.

  We killed our TV connection about 10 years ago and did not miss much.  Today we are restored so we can get more local political news.  The teen grew up without knowing TV at all.  She is a voracious reader today and one fine student, but not at all connected to the entertainment and social world of television.  

  I highly recommend disconnection for all households with young children.  Books are so very much better.

  Peace.

  by possum on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:19:01 AM PDT

•  we don't have cable.

  Don't have any desire for it, really. Except Comedy Central... but we can live without it. We watch a few shows a week. I don't even watch the tv news anymore-- there's nothing there I haven't heard here already, with less spin and more detail. We rent movies from Netflix, but don't watch those that often either. I'll have to admit I'm kind of addicted to the internet though.

  by ubertar on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:19:44 AM PDT

•  I have TIVO TYVM

  Spent the weekend with the wife watching the history of Rome, the Dark Ages and feudal Japan, as well as a couple movies.  No commercials, watched when we wanted to.  It's about controlling technology, not letting it control you.

  I'll keep my television, thank you very much.

  by SteamPunkX on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:28:13 AM PDT

  •  How do you feel about funding FOX News?

    That was one thing that always stuck in my craw.

    by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:29:26 AM PDT

    •  How do I fund them?

      Is tivo somehow a Fox enterprise?  At any rate, Tivo gives one the power to essentially rec or troll-rate shows.  Mrs. SPX and I have a field day derating Fox shows :)

      by SteamPunkX on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 10:11:41 AM PDT

      •  Where do the shows come from?

        Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but are you Tivo-ing them off cable?  Or is this a direct delivery feature Tivo added?

        If its off cable, then a portion of your cable bill goes to Fox.  If it's direct delivery, then you've discovered a great way to cut Murdoch off.

        by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 10:16:59 AM PDT

        •  Ah!

          I see, and yes, we've realized that as well.  That's why we write our cable operator regularly stating that we don't want FOX or it's subsidiaries.

          "If one person did, they'd think he was crazy and they'd kick him out. . . but if fifty people, fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaraunt and walking out . . . "
          -- Arlo Guthrie

          by SteamPunkX on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 11:16:18 AM PDT

•  Leave The Switch In The "Off" Position

  We've gotten to where I watch the occasional football game, the wife "Brothers and Sisters", and the Boy watches Sesame Street.  Other than that, the TV remains "off".

  Try it, you'll like it.  The complete absence of television "news" is especailly invigorating.

  by bincbom on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:32:51 AM PDT

•  DOCTOR WHO!

  I've been waiting months for someone on Dkos to mention this.

  The New Doctor Who has probably been one of the main reason's I've been able to survive the second Bush term with my sanity intact.

  A wonderful, funny, upbeat show with lots of left-leaning messages.  I love it!

  by Moresby on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:35:43 AM PDT

•  Our TV...

  Is really nice. An investment, really. But then again, my wife and I spend a lot of time watching movies. It's like a hobby.

  Actual TV broadcasts? Not so much.

  But yeah, we do spend a lot of time catching up on the classics (including silent films, film noir classics, etc.)

  by droogie6655321 on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:35:57 AM PDT

  •  I've argued

    That when our kids get old enough, we need to educate them by showing them old movies that are classics.  Movies are the 20th Century's biggest cultural innovation (OK, maybe Jazz, but movies were completely new in the century).

    I'm hoping limiting their exposure to big flashy TV programs will make it possible for them to enjoy the old B&W movies when the time comes.

    by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:42:19 AM PDT

    •  asdf

      I was raised on B&W movies and TV, and I'm only 25. Yeah, my kids are going to watch the Twilight Zone and the Three Stooges, the Universal monster movies and It's a Wonderful Life at Christmas.

      My wife (a classroom teacher) says she can't show her kids black and white anything without them losing interest. It's just dumb to be that dismissive.

      by droogie6655321 on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:45:42 AM PDT

•  Great post

  Turning off the TV is a great step for one's own personal time and also for one's political consciousness.  As you said, you have much more time to read, much more time to exercise, much more time to spend with family, and much more time to actually make yourself a better person (try to do any of these while watching TV!).

  Downloading TV shows that you might want to watch is also very convenient.  Have you watched the British comedy Peep Show?  If not, I highly recommend it.  

  by Gamma on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:53:13 AM PDT

  •  I haven't hearf of Peep Show

    I will look for it now, though.  I recommend Black Books and the IT Crowd highly if you haven't see them.

    by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:59:12 AM PDT

•  excellent decision!

  we got rid of cable 16 years ago when my daughter was a baby and have never had it since then. we get no over the air broadcasts so this has meant no teevee for the past 16 years.

  And it's one of the best decisions we ever made. Both our kids are much better off for not having watched teevee.

  We, like you, kept the tv set itself, and rent videos and dvds.

  As for news stuff, I get enough from blogs and video clips to know that I'm missing absolutely nothing by not being able to watch the various "news" shows.

  And yeah, the extra time to do other things is great.

  by upstate guy on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 09:59:50 AM PDT

•  This is too weird.

  My wife and I were just wondering aloud the other day whether TV might have any connection to autism.  Just pulling thoughts out of our asses, but sometimes when you see a kid sitting in front of a TV, he gets tunnel vision and lacks response to any other stimuli.  Not autism by any means, but perhaps similar in some points.

  And though we never have the TV on when my three-month-old is in the room, whenever he goes to his grandparents' house or some other place where TV is on, he locks eyes on it to the exclusion of all other things.  It's saddening and maddening all at once.  I think TV is like crack for the visual part of your brain.

  Anyhow -- yes, you will find it gets much easier as the days go by.  I don't miss a single thing about TV (though I do find myself sneaking downstairs two or three nights a week to watch reruns of Scrubs).  And it's vitally important, I think, for the kid.

  by I on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 10:09:33 AM PDT

  •  Oh, and ditto for the computer.

    From what I understand, if he gets on that thing too early, the 2-dimensional nature of it can wreck his development.

    by I on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 10:10:37 AM PDT

    •  The PC is my big worry.

      I make my living with computers and my wife uses computers more and more herself.  We're going to have to find some way to de-emphasize them at home.

      My thoughts when I heard about the TV study was that it made total sense.  For some reason, I've always had at least one epileptic friend in my life since I was a kid and I figure if flashing lights in the right sequence and frequency can help bring on a seizure in epileptics, what would lights and colors flashing by on a TV screen do to little developing brains?

      by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 10:35:20 AM PDT

      •  As well it should be.

        Sounds like you two are a little bit like my wife and me.  We don't sit together on the couch for hours at a time, staring glassy-eyed at whatever dreck happens to float across the TV.  However, there are occasions when we sit for hours with our backs to each other, in our own little worlds with our own computers.

        I think the quality of information we get this way is superior, but the fact that we're isolating ourselves even further is worrisome to me.  If TV helps keep us in the house and isolate us from our neighbors, does the Internet help keep us at our desk and isolate us from our spouses and kids?  Maybe.  It's something I worry about.

        by I on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 10:45:54 AM PDT

  •  I think some people

    use TV (and/or long car commutes and video games) to enter a state of light trance in which "monkey mind" is not so troublesome. Meditation might be a useful alternative; with some experience, 15 minutes is ample to produce calm, and less may be needed. TV seems to quiet the mind when on, but injects so much information that the mind is more agitated afterwards, when the stimulation stops.    

    Another reason I think some people use so much TV at home is to create some ambient sound that includes human voices. Perhaps because our species really isn't adapted to isolation.  

    by Clio2 on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 11:29:54 AM PDT

  •  I wouldn't grasp onto this just yet

    The article the diarist links to is fairly skeptical of the study, and I can't say I blame it.  This is, in essence, purely a correlation that doesn't control for any other factors.  Plus it was done by economists, not doctors or biologists.  You might as well say lack of pirates is causing autism.  

    Any scientists or doctors around want to chime in?

    by Soberish on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 03:57:51 PM PDT

    •  I left out of the diary

      That my wife's a doctor. She's a pediatrician in fellowship to become a pediatric hematologist / oncologist.  It supports other information she's seen.

      TV isn't the cause of autism - The root cause is probably a genetic susceptibility - But it may very well contribute or trigger the symptoms in susceptible individuals.

      by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 05:09:56 PM PDT

      •  This is so funny.

        My wife's a doctor, too.  And I work in (actually, am currently in school for) IT.  There's some sort of confluence happening here.

        by I on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 06:12:01 PM PDT

        •  Are you certain you're not me?

          We are still on our meds, right? :)

          by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 07:25:26 PM PDT

          •  OK, I'm pinching myself now ....

            where did we pinch us?  You don't know?  OK, good .... I was a little flipped out for a second there ....

            Perhaps we are just bloggelgängers?

            by I on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 08:14:42 PM PDT

            •  Crap! Not an original term!

              Not even close.

              by I on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 08:16:41 PM PDT

              •  The tubes are infinite!

                by nightsweat on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 08:21:51 PM PDT

    •  Very true, but for people like us

      who don't need any more reason to prevent our kid from watching TV, it makes more food for thought.  We've pretty much already decided, for reasons that have nothing to do with autism, to keep him away from the TV until he's 3 or until he holds his breath and turns blue, whichever comes first.

      I think the Slate article even admits that, though there's a slight correlation, there are a lot of lurking factors.  From a purely non-scientific point of view, though, it makes some sense that TV would mess with a little kid's brain.

      by I on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 06:09:58 PM PDT

•  Great post! When I was a kid, my parents were

  pretty strict about not allowing me to watch much TV. Probably one of the best things they ever did for me!

  by a girl in MI on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 10:37:20 AM PDT