Boob Tube

When I was growing up, I guess I watched an average amount of television for an American boy. Transformers and G.I. Joe after school. Sitcoms after dinner, if we didn't have church or karate or piano lessons. (The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, and Night Court was the best Thursday night line-up EVER!) But after I left for college, my television habits severely decreased. I'd catch shows sporadically, but never connected with characters or followed story arcs. We had cable at our apartment in Vegas, but we usually just watched reruns of Seinfeld or The Simpsons. Plus, while in Vegas, I started to get more into film, so by the time I got to Japan, I only watched DVDs on my television. At our place in Utah, we had cable somewhat against my will, but I didn't argue, since my roommate spent 98% of his time on the couch watching police chases caught on tape. (The other 2% was spent making Tuna Helper.) I mean, who was I to deprive him of his daily dose of poorly filmed (yet, oh, so dramatically narrated) reality videos? My situation here in Italy is similar to that of Japan. I have my television set up in the corner, easily visible, but still out of the way. (I always thought it was sad when I went into someone's home and all the furniture was centred around the television.) There's a satellite dish on my house, and I have access to an AFN decoder, allowing me to watch regular American shows, but I doubt I'll ever pick it up. I'm pretty content to watch random movies from my collection, and if a certain television show should happen to peak my curiosity, adding it to my Netflix queue is quick, easy, and better than waiting a week between episodes.