Why do we spend time watching TV  programs that  really don't seem to have any intrinsic value?
371826
Yeah, global capitalist is rigth. We use those kind of things to kill the time. To have a good time, to have fun, to laugth, to be kewl.\n\nMaybe we shouldn't just be looking at intrinsically valuable TV programs, like Alejozilva said, but we could spend our time, reading, practicing some sport, or working out, or spending time with our children if we have. \n\nOr answering questions in Yahoo Answers! rigth? lol
340496
When you watch a TV program that you hate because you can't find the remote and are too lazy to get up and change the channel.\nWhen you trade your car because you are too lazy to drive a stick shift and want an automatic.
303859
It seems to me that media companies don't really care what they are putting onto the television, as long as its making them big bucks.  And seeing how many of the people in our hedonist society are driven more towards pleasurable things , the media knows that many of them will watch these shows that can be described as smut.  These days its all about sex, drugs, etc, and the media knows that.  Filth is on tv because it sells.
413178
yeah, sure. tv, computers, really arent good for you, first of all for your inner being, and for your head. tey also are kinda addicting, and a waste of time
102092
Cause they are all out better then DTV in my opinion and no commitment either!\n\nthere GREAT!
582855
The media does not represent reality.  The shows are produced only to get mass media attention.  Good looking people are always used as they get more media attention.  Many TV shows have stupid scripts because people want stupid scripts and dumb sitcoms.  If people want a more intelligent media they should complain about TV to those who are in charge of programming TV networks.
827388
I love not owning a television.\n\nOne of my favorite parts about getting my own apartment when I was 18 was the fact that I would not be brining a TV.  My life is so much balanced without the media trying to influence how I think, feel, and act.  Some shows could be entertaining, and it was nice to get information from channels like Travel, Discovery, History, Weather, etc.  But my main annoyance was commercials.  I live in a big city where I see advertisements everywhere: on the sides of buildings, in the trains, on the cabs, etc.  The last place I want to see an ad is in my own home.  There is no need to let the media into your personal life, and you certainly shouldn't let them try to instill artificial needs, which is what most ads attempt to do.  I don't want an iPod, a new perfume, or a McDonalds burger, and I don't want to be told I want one.  I am extremely happy without those products and I refuse to be told that they are going to improve the quality of my life -- I know better.\n\nHey America!  We don't have to watch shows with degrading comedy or live vicariously through reality show drama.  We also don't have to be constant consumers, and we shouldn't be raising our children to become that way either.  Turn off the TV and tell your kid to have some fun.  And guess what?  This might mean you have to actually spend some time with them.  Because we all know parents turn on the tube because they don't want to deal with their child or are 'too busy'.  Give me a break.  Spend some time with your kid and get to actually know them.  They will end up being more intelligent and happy when you actually interact with them and show that you care.  There is nothing on TV that you couldn't get somewhere else: read them a book, play a boardgame, or maybe even get them to use their imagination!  There is still hope!\n\nTake care of your bare neccesities and then spend your time having fun.  Get out and actually live life instead of watching people faking it on a digital screen.
1095834
Because they make for good TV... entertainment at its best!
688650
They don't show much music anymore and likely won't play any more than they already do because they need to show programming that will generate ratings. The higher the ratings they get, the more money they can charge advertisers. Also, advertisers want to know that their spots are being seen, so the length of time that viewers stay tuned to the network is also very important. When they show long-form programming that is 30 minutes or longer in length, people watch longer than they do when a 5 or 6 minute video is airing. Thus, viewers are more likely to stay tuned to see the commercials. It's all about the money, baby...
1124566
THEY UTILIZE THE 'PRIME TIME' CLEVERLY.\n\nTHATS WHY THE CHANNELS ONLY PROVIDING THE PROGRAMMES WHICH WILL BE VIEWED BY THEIR PEOPLE.\n\nNOTHING LIKE OUR 'DD'.
1023268
I grew up without tv and am raising my child without it also.  She is not quite two and a half and is briliant!  The first time a tv was on in her presance she had no idea what to do with it.  She did not get the concept of sitting down and gazing into the box.  I myself get sad and disgusted any time I watch tv.  The shows are terrible, all of this reality tv crap scares me, but more than that it is the comercials!  My heart starts to flutter and I get so worked up seeing the structure of it all.  The systems that have been created to get into our brains to direct us this way or that, we have lost our free will.  What people are exposed to is what they adhear to.  What we watch on tv is what we become.  If we don't watch tv our world becomes alot bigger, and alot more creative.  I have a friend who is a preschool teacher and does not watch tv.  She has told me that the kids who watch tv play games that are repeating dialogs from tv shows, and the kids who don't watch tv have a world of there own, and that is a beautiful thing!
741063
Those who pay attention ARE getting a 'wake-up call'.\n\nThose who think what you listed is 'cool' or 'normal'  dont WANT a wake-up call,  they like things just as they are.\n\nThe TV shows and movies dictate what less than stellar achievers put first in their lives.  Such 'entertainment'  is a sad reflection of our society today.\n\nMany of us have totally stopped 'feeding' on such garbage. \nYou know that old saying-- "garbage IN garbage OUT".\n\nsad reflection of today's society--a good dose of antiseptic might be in order...
106609
Television, especially cable television, allows us to see things that without it, before internet, we would never be able to see. Take for example the Food Network. Here we are able to see concrete examples of cuisine and cooking styles from all kinds of different countries and cultures. \n24-hours news has forced the news services to focus on much more of the world's happenings as they have to fill an entire days worth of programing. \nI live in the South so winter sports are obviously not avaliable in my area. Thanks to TV I am able to witness skiing, snowboarding and curling. Freestyle wrestling is not a practiced sport in my area either, but TV allows me to witness these events. \nThere are countless other examples on how TV has forced us to become more global thinkers (while concurrently rotting our brains).
350719
Hi there.. I'm not sure what your actual question is.  Are you claiming that your generation is not as self-absorbed and selfish as some people accuse?  Or are you saying that today's TV shows portray a generation that is not self-absorbed or selfish?  Who are "we moderns"?  I'm interested in discussing these issues with you, but I need to understand who you speak for.  Certainly not everyone in the world who is your age cheers for the winners on American Idol.  Some of them can't stand the show, much less the winners (i know some young people like this.)\n\nI think a large part of the joy in watching people find success and happiness on TV is that it allows the viewer (i.e. you or me) to experience that pleasure, to live sort of vicariously through the characters we're seeing, and in whom we've invested quite a lot of emotion and interest.   I would say to you that I think it's indicative of a good person to enjoy seeing people find success and happiness, or seeing people solve their problems and work things out.  I believe that's a good thing. \n\nBut there are some inherent problems with buying too much into the stories on TV.  For one, TV shows, reality or not, are nevertheless edited to smithereens; they rarely if ever show the true ebb and flow of a situation, the nature of how real time passes.  It's VERY easy to get used to that and lose your perspective on how long some things take and how much patience and tenacity is required.  Another problem:  there are some people who are so rapt in attention with TV shows, and already experiencing vicariously the pleasures of successes that they're seeing, that they have simply stopped investing enough time in their own happiness.   When you relate to much of life through a perspective of TV shows, you lose sense of how things really are.  Everything is very grand and overly dramatic and heavily edited on TV.  When one then has to deal with regular life, and it appears to them (relative to TV) mundane, slow, and undramatic, they may become discouraged and lose a lot of drive or ambition to pursue their interests.  \n\nThere are other problems.  I refer you to a great essay by David Foster Wallace entitled "E Unibus Pluram:  Television and U.S. Fiction".  \n\nBut to better answer your question, I need to know more specifics.  Who are you "moderns"?  Who is accusing you of being self-absorbed and selfish, and if someone is, why should you care?  Do you feel like a self-absorbed or selfish person?  If not, then who cares what other people say?  If they're judging you without knowing you, that's pretty presumptuous.  Screw 'em.  Live your life, be happy, be yourself.  Write me back if you'd like.
425624
Commercials are generally at a higher volume than the show itself you are watching.  All in the name of Marketing, of course.
610639
It's just another form of entertainment.  Like watching tv, going to the movies, reading a book, etc.  It's your choice how you choose to unwind.
439048
Unlike TV, reading allows you to paint your own pictures in your mind of how everything being described looks and feels. It is much more personal to a person to enjoy a good story that they pictured in thier own mind for themselves. TV just presents the story as is and leaves no room for your own creative input.