Must See TV

Amongst one of the many reasons why my living situation has worked out so well over the past three years is that my roommate and I have a mutual love of television and, even better, many of the same shows. Funny because we are both "meh" on other forms of entertainment like movies.

While many law students or young professionals sacrifice cable to cut down on costs, focus on studying, or because they do not watch much television, there has never been a question in our apartment that we would have cable. Having that one show a night to look forward to got us through some stressful or exhausting days of law school. And no, internet tv just is not the same to us. There is something about watching it on a television, rather than an isolated laptop screen, that is part of the experience.

Now that we have entered into the working world have and have a disposible income, we have upgraded and pay for DVR (like Tivo).I feel silly writing a post glorifying DVR, but it really has changed the way I watch television. I no longer watch what is on, but rather what I want to record. For example, bad reality tv* was one of my guilty pleasures and it was easy to get because it was always on.

And while I still fully defend watching shows like the Housewives of *insert random city here* because 1) there are far worse things to be addicted to, 2) those shows are an interesting commentary on our society, and 3) they were not nearly as bad as E! shows like Rock of Love, I watch far less of those shows nowadays. The Housewives and Top Model have been replaced by Mad Men--which I have grown to love so much, that I will probably have another blog entry devoted to it.

They say that reality tv shows and internet television are killing regular dramas and sitcoms. Maybe I am bucking the trend, but I wonder if other people will revert back, like me, after their fling with bad reality tv.

*I use the term "bad" loosely, as only to differentiate from what I consider quality reality tv shows like Top Chef and Pre-Lifetime Project Runway.