why i quit tv

I have been without bona fide television for eight years now, and I really don't miss it. Not that I don't own an actual television set, but it's used only for watching DVDs. I did cave in and purchase a set of rabbit ears for it a couple years ago, shortly after I drove through a blizzard to get to work only to discover that work was closed because of the weather. Or the day shortly thereafter when I wore the requisite (and dreaded!) skirt and pantyhose to work, only to learn from my trousers-clad female coworkers that the forecasted high was low enough for me to have worn trousers, too. At that moment, I decided I should invest in some way to watch TV news and weather reports, especially during the winter. And that's all I've used the TV for -- checking the weather in winter, and watching DVDs. And my life was happy.

But over the past month, the dreaded TV - even with only the 5 local channels I get -- has begun encroaching into my life again. I've begun watching presidential conventions and debates. I now know when "Friends" reruns air on the local Fox affiliate. And when I was home sick a week or so ago with nothing to do but sleep on the couch with several boxes of Kleenex and a large trash can beside me, I discovered that that same Fox channel shows nothing all day long except courtroom shows. After one slightly-enjoyable half-hour of "Family Feud," I was stuck watching "Divorce Court," "People's Court," "Christina's Court," "Judge Mathis," "Judge Joe Brown," "Judge Karen," "Judge Moron," "Idiot's Court," "White Trash Court," "Humiliate Myself on National Television Just for the Money Court".... it went on and on and on! Hour after hour of the most pathetic people, the most pathetic stories, the most pathetic situations I've ever heard of.

Case in point: a woman married with three children and a fourth on the way is suing her husband for the cost of expenses to move out with the kids, because she's had enough. The husband is convinced none of the children are his because she's been so unfaithful, and the wife herself doesn't believe any of them are his. He knows the men she's been cheating on him with, and has spoken to them numerous times (some even during their clandestine meetings with his wife!). Meanwhile, the husband has brought his girlfriend -- who is living with him and his wife and kids in their house -- to the court with him as a character witness! The girlfriend, unknownst to him, is hacking into his wife's MySpace page and posting slutty pictures and comments of her. The wife wants to sue the girlfriend for defamation of character. Paternity tests prove the kids really are her husband's, at which point he agrees to go ahead and pay the moving expenses because he wants to set a good and responsible example for his kids...

Not only do these kinds of stories (and yes, this was a true case that I actually watched that day) highlight everything that's wrong and warped and messed up about our society today, but the fact that someone would actually seek to profit from these stories by parading them on national television under the guise of "entertainment" just makes me mad. What's the point of watching this kind of stuff??? There is nothing entertaining about broken marriages and broken families. On the contrary, it's heartbreaking and saddening...

... and a jolting reminding of why I quit TV in the first place...