It all started last summer when my husband got cable “to watch World Cup Soccer.” Something was suddenly available to watch on the TV 24 hours a day. I had avoided the cable TV trap for 42 years, (granted there was no cable TV when I was growing up, but that’s besides the point) and allowed the beauty that is On Demand TV to wash over me like Charlie Sheen at a STD clinic a warm bubble bath. Yes, we cancelled the cable TV at the end of the summer, but streaming Netflix took its place. My beautiful, beautiful Netflix. It wasn’t long before we were watching back-to-back episodes of The Office and 30 Rock. Television gets a bad rap as an idiot box or boob tube, but these were smart, funny shows with fantastic characters. What was not to love?!
And then I discovered Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
My family watched seven seasons of Buffy over a few months and then breezed through five additional seasons of Angel with a speed not seen since vampires first emerged. People, there are 22 episodes per season, each lasting approximately 42 minutes, times the 12 seasons I just watched. I could do the math, but I choose not to.
So tonight, I watched the very last episode of Angel. It was bittersweet, and I yearn for just one. More. Episode.
I plan on taking at least a month off to wean myself off the TV habit. I’m not sure whether I’ll watch movies with the kids, but I’m going to try to even avoid this little concession.
So goodbye TV, goodbye Buffy and Angel. I will miss you dreadfully, although I did put all your comics on hold at the library. *Sob*
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”
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Netflix has ruined my productivity for all time.
If, after your TV hiatus, you find that you need more of David Boreanaz, I recommend the show “Bones.” I breezed through the first 5 seasons of Bones this semester and am now using a free trial to Hulu Plus to get caught up on the current season. ::sigh::
run – don’t walk… and get yourself to some episodes of FIREFLY (Joss only made 13) then get your hands on DR HORRIBLE’S SING-A-LONG BLOG… and you will have fulfilled your whedon destiny…. for the time being anyway!!
🙂
I’m a 44 year old woman who is watching the complete Buffy series for the FOURTH time in 4 years. Help me!
I’ve seen all of Buffy and Angel six total times. We may need to start a support group. I just luuuuurve that show!
Fortunately for me, I cannot stand Buffy. lol
Hope your TV-free month goes well!
1. Firefly.
2. Re-watching.
Seriously. Welcome to the cult. It’s all downhill from here. 🙂
It’s not your fault… Buffy and the Scoobies are ADDICTIVE!
seriously addictive!!
I’m working my way through every season of the X Files thanks to Netflixs. May God help us all ! 🙂
X Files is on netflix?!? I had no idea. (Only had Netflix for 2 months) oh…. this is bad.
Completely understand this! When you are ready to resume, Dollhouse (with Faith!) is good too! For a fun family-ish show, we are on season 4 of Psych, my 16 year old loves it!
Oh, Buffy…good times. I would have watched a wrinkly Sarah Michelle Gellar slay vampires and make corny jokes all day long if they had never cancelled it!
We’re going to slay the no cable beast next month (or it’s going to slay us) although we will still have internet, and time sucking programming is almost easier to find online than it is while channel surfing!
I am so glad I don’t have netflix…I do however have Firefly backed up to an external hard drive, safe and secure for all time.
Now if I could just get my family to stop luring me into their TV room with Bones and NCIS…I’d actually get something done with my evenings!
It’s true that even without watching broadcast television, a person can watch a lot of t.v. via DVDs. My guilty pleasure is Hogan’s Heroes, of which I’ve watched all six seasons in one marathon session. I’ve also exhausted I Love Lucy (more than once), Remington Steele, The Dick Van Dyke Show, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and The Andy Griffith Show. (This is over a period of years, not weeks.) To my credit I never turn the t.v. on during the day and watch only after dinner. Still what I could be doing with my evenings. Oh well, I do love the idiot box.
I’m really bad when it comes to watching an entire season of back to back episodes. There’s something very addicting watching hour after hour of the same show and characters. It’s like they become a part of your family, a part of your life. I have all seven seasons of Buffy on DVD, as well as all five seasons of Angel. Every couple of years I pull them out and watch them, hour after hour. I’m currently “addicted” to watching back to back episodes of ER. And there’s 15 seasons of that show!! I don’t even want to do the math on that one.
Oh dear, oh dear! It’s “The Big Bang Theory” around here — I was hooked by my brother and his wife last spring, and now we’ve seen all of the first three seasons. I think the cleverness of its dialogue beats even that on “Frasier.” (Am I the only one who thinks Sheldon might have more than a touch of Aspergers? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, to quote Seinfeld about a different matter.)
Love, love, love “The Big Bang Theory”. We are on Season One, and am so close to watching a new episode but afraid it will ruin all the rest.
Buffy, then Angel (then for a very brief time, Firefly) was a weekly event for us! I cannot imagine going through all that drama in the matter of a couple months!
If you do go back, Firefly is awesome…
One more vote for Firefly and Serenity!
We’re buying a Roku and ditching cable. Will use the rabbit ears for local stations, and stream Netflix and Hulu. Huge savings.
I am embarrassed to admit my addictions right now. Total guilty pleasures:
Sex and the City
Deadwood
Nurse Jackie
True Blood
Sons of Anarchy
No wonder I’ve gained a little weight. Crikey!
Pulling the plug is a great idea! I’ve thought about doing this as well. I’ve gotten sucked into a TV series on Netflix – watching more than one at a time, and then ended up regretting it later (I can’t believe I ate the whole thing).
Right now we are going through all the old Quantum Leap episodes on Netflix and 13 seasons of King of the Hill. Not high brow humor, but funny none the less…….hanging head in shame……..
We had what we call poor tv, whatever came out of the air and then I rearranged the family room about a month ago and the new location of the tv gets no channels. So I’m trying to see how long I can go. We rent maybe a movie a month and I can jump on the internet and watch a show or two on hulu. TV sucks me in so bad and I want to get into the habit of not watching it. Goodluck! : )
“Charlie Sheen at an STD clinic” ?! Katy, you totally crack me up!
I have been so busy this year, I’m not sure I’ve watched even one show since last summer. I have nostalgia for the days of watching TV shows as a family — everyone looking forward to the new episode — but we really don’t watch TV.
Don’t think I’m on my high horse, though. The kids play computer games and wii and watch hulu or Disney channel shows waaaaaaaay more than is good for them.
My son has been home sick from school today and been parked in front of the TV for about 10 hours now.
He’s never been happier.
Katy
Yes to Firefly (and then watch Serenity and then there are some comics too). Yes to Bones. Yes to Dr Horrible. No to Dollhouse, sad but true.
when our daughter was young, we made every summer TV free…watched only the occasional movie. sure made for a more interesting summer. I should think about doing the same with my own summer, but sure would miss my Netflix movies if I had to give them up! I’ve put the subscription on hold a couple of times and sure suffered withdrawals!