I get hooked on a TV show if I see one episode that I like. For some reason, I feel as if I want to see all the episodes, past and present. I feel connected to the characters, and I don’t want to let them down by not seeing them in all their adventures.
Is that bad? Is it good?
Well, if I had hundreds of hours in my day, it would be good. If I had zero extra hours in my day, it would be bad. Since I have a few extra hours each day for TV or what-have-you, it depends. It all depends on how many TV shows I want to watch, and, of course, what else I want to do with my free time. There are many other things I want to do.
Last night my wife recorded a show I had never seen. She watched part of it and said I would probably like it. So I watched it, too. It was “Without a Trace.” I liked it. I also like “Law and Order SVU,” “Medium,” “Monk,” and “NCIS.” I would probably like many more shows if I let myself watch an episode of each of them. So, let’s say there are 7 one-hour TV shows that I wish to see. I would like to watch each show once a week when it aired, and also, if time permitted, I would like to see past episodes.
Thank goodness for the digital video recorder. I can record new and past shows and watch them at any time of day or night.
Getting back to those 7 shows I want to see each week, plus however many past episodes I have time for, let’s figure it out. Say seven hours of real-time shows, plus seven hours of past episodes each week. That’s 14 hours of viewing a week. That’s about 2 hours a day. Not bad. Considering that I only watch the evening news each night, plus 60 Minutes on Sunday, I can do it. Of course it will take me years to catch up with all the past episodes of shows I like. But that’s okay – UNLESS —- unless I discover more TV shows I like in the years to come. Yikes! What if I wind up watching several new shows I like! How will I ever get to watch all the past and present shows? What will happen to me if I don’t get to see all those shows before —before I see more shows that I like?
Oh, God! I may never get to see all the shows — both past and present — that I like! What will happen then?
I will be just like you and everyone else who watches a show he or she likes. Okay, then, I feel a bit better now.
I think I’ll go to my computer to get my mind off of TV. Oops – I am at my computer writing this essay.
Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com
