A few years ago, I wrote an essay on the evils of television and how I inadvertently forced myself into a life without cable.

At the time, I had Verizon DSL and had no need for any type of cable connection in my home.

Fast forward a couple years and I’m in a new place; living with my girlfriend…who needed the full cable package.

Okay, so I gave in a little. And we had HBO. We watched VH-1. And I actually sort of enjoyed the Cartoon Network and Comedy Central.
But lo and behold, we broke up. And the day she moved out, I called Comcast to cancel everything except what was necessary in order to have Comcast High Speed internet.

Which brings our story up to date.

I now have (and have had for over a year now) the most bare bones and basic cable subscription all in the name of high speed internet.

I’m not up to date on Entourage; I haven’t seen a new episode of South Park in eons and I couldn’t tell you what the latest reality phenom on MTV is. (Admittedly, I do go to a friends house religiously during Sopranos Season)

I’ve made a few observations–again about TV–that I thought I would share.

• What happens on Television, in a sitcom or otherwise, IS NOT, nor should it ever be, considered “News” and featured in either a newscast or in a newspaper.

It’s utterly baffling to me when I see FRONT PAGE news about a television program. Add to that the VERY FIRST THING one sees when opening The Patriot News (and likely any other commercial news publication) is an update on what happened last night and what’s happening in the coming nights/weeks.

Sitcoms, reality television, docudramas and advice shows are not and will never be REAL NEWS.

• Television shows and commercials are no place for an upcoming band.
  

Having argued this idea extensively with friends and colleagues, I’ve come to the conclusion that either I am crazy, or no one else sees the problem.

Bands that I grew up with…that impacted me the most…that put on heartfelt and spontaneous live shows…that are still relevant today…NEVER would have sold a song to a bubble gum teen sitcom or car commercial.

Tell me Nirvana would still be as relevant today as they were before Cobain offed himself if had they sold “Teen Spirit” to “Teen Spirit”.

How can a band gain TRACTION without working their way up through the ranks via traditional methods like touring hard, merchandising and winning over fans one by one?

Sure, sure…but they can get exposure to SO MANY people by selling a song to a TV show or commercial.

But what about the CONTEXT?

Music is art. Art is interpreted differently by different eyes and ears.

But when you put a song in the CONTEXT of a candy bar, car or Colgate commercial…POOF! Context goes out the window. The song is ruined.

Bands, please don’t sell out. I’d rather meet you two years from now in a memorable fashion than forget about you three minutes after hearing your song in a Target ad.

• Football is a Distraction
  

Imagine, just for one moment, if three hundred million people spent one single Sunday afternoon thinking about the war. Imagine if three hundred million people spent a single Monday night reading a book. Imagine three hundred million people focusing their efforts for a few hours per week on ways to improve their neighborhoods.

Do you think that we’d see an improvement in a neighborhood?

Do you think the conversation at the office would be a bit more stimulating on Tuesday morning?

Do you think more people would get involved in anti-war activities?

OF COURSE THEY WOULD.

But when millions of people lay motionless watching fodder that is as relevant to their well being as monkey bars are to dolphins, they forget about the war. They forget about the kids in their neighborhood who don’t have an elder role model. They can’t construct a proper sentence in an email or conversation.

Sure, it’s not just football. It’s baseball and basketball and golf (CHRIST! who watches GOLF!?) and NASCAR. And it’s just something else to think about than ways to fix our fucked up world.

We’ve got fantasy football leagues. People actually spend HOURS of time poring over statistics and facts and figures of NON EXISTENT TEAMS.

Okay, maybe I’m not the biggest football fan and that could be part of the problem.

And I’m not implying that there is no need for organized sports. They’re apparently beneficial for children. And that’s great.

But the DEGREE to which people go in defense of their favorite team is ASTOUNDING.

Imagine the biggest Eagles or Steelers fan you know. (Maybe it’s you).

Not think about how much that person talks about the team, the game, the players, the coaches, et cetera ad nauseum.

Now imagine that person were that passionate about something that could IMPROVE the world we live in.

Again, I’m not saying we should eliminate sports. But how about we tone it down a bit?

And lastly, for now…

• CELEBRITIES WHO ARE CELEBRITIES FOR THE SAKE OF BEING CELEBRITIES SHOULD BE FIRED OUT OF A CANNON TO THE MOON.
  

I’m talking about Paris Hilton. I’m talking about Brittany Spears. I’m talking about Lindsay Lohan.

These people are a JOKE. They do NOTHING to increase my knowledge of the world. It’s not even mildly amusing to look at some papparazzi photos of their exposed selves.

Yet they are dressed up and paraded in front of us night after night after night…drilling into our minds how much we WISH we had that kind of money…how much we WISH we had that new Benz…how much we WISH we could party with those people.

Keep dreaming, folks. You’ll sleep better.

On that note, here are a few more bona fide facts to leave you with- PDF HERE
http://turnoffyourtv.com

http://tvturnoff.org