been in germany for the best part of two years and i'm now back for crimbo. it is the first time in ages that i've sat down and watched tv as i don't have one there. i've tried to be selective with what i watch (the old man has one of these digi boxes that records programmes and allows you to pause and rewind live tv) yet there isn't really anything that jumps out as being quality programming (informative/educational, thought provoking).

over the last few years i've kept myself entertained by reading books and/or the internet, as well as watching the occasional piece on the net (Veoh.com, life on earth – the whole series) and i feel that i'm a better person for it.

tv dumbs down the masses (my mum included) with offerings of 'celebrity' tripe, visiting houses that you'll never buy or ever had any inclination to do so, east-****-enders amd so on.

who here doesn't have a tv? why? what do you do to fill the void?

who here couldn't live without one? why? what programmes can't you bear to miss?

discuss.

discovery, nat geo, history channel etc etc…

Only recently bought a TV again after about 5 years without one so that we can play Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs for Stoner Jr.

Occasionally watch something on BBC4 or maybe CSI for a bit of pulp. But in doing so I catch sight of the most terrifyingly awful TV programme adverts. The worst looking of which seems to be something called "Heads or Tails", hosted by a long-haired vacuous Gibb-brother-alike. A programme revolving wholly around one person tossing a f****** coin to win money for an hour. For 11 days in a row. WTF?

iPlayer is great for BBC4 programmes on catch up (liek Wallander or some of the docs).

Otherwise its internet, reading or cooking/eating/chatting with family & friends.

How people manage to fill their lives with 2hrs of soaps every night is beyond me.

Don't have a TV. Licence fee. Facebook. 😉

there is good tv out there

amazing US dramas
good comedy from UK and the US
BBC4 has some good stuff

but you do need to be very selective – I try and avoid just sitting down to watch TV, as inevitably you end up watching rubbish

Most TV is guff. We generally listen to the radio during the evening and the wife is thankfully not into soaps or 'reality' TV.

BBC2, BBC4 and Channel 4 throw up a few good programmes.

TV On Demand and iPlayer are a wonderful thing though.
In the past week, worth watching have been:

"The Thick Of it"
"James May's Toy Stories"
"Top Gear" -edited down to 25 minutes with iplayer
"Gavin & Stacey" -past its best though.
"QI"
"Have I got News For You?"

Surprisingly, the average UK person watches ~4hrs/day! How?!

HDD recorders and torrents are the answer. What you want, when and how you want it.

Nothing worse than watching tv for the sake of watching it.

I love TV, and i'm not ashamed to admit it.

Currently enjoying Dollhouse, Nitro Circus, Burn Notice, Merlin (just finished though), Gossip Girl and i always watch the news in the morning while i eat breakfast.

yup, unfortunately iplayer is only available within the UK. youtube hosts a few programmes such as 'have i got news for you', the peep show and the inbetweeners (please make another series).

How people manage to fill their lives with 2hrs of soaps every night is beyond me.

Mother – in – law manages it quite easily, she is 81, and living on her own, so from that perspective it's quite easy to believe, especially if you met her. 😉

I could quite easily live without the TV, the only thing I watch atm is FlashForward, but as the series / network is on a break I haven't missed it so I can live without it.

So yeah, telly is rubbish.

Some TV is shit, some is great, and some is inbetween.

It's your choice whether you watch it or not. Nobody forces you to sit down and watch (IMO) all the BS soaps, reality shows and celebrity b0ll0cks, etc.

There's also a load sh1t on the radio, on the internet, in the book world, and in the music world … and there's also a load of great stuff. Find it and enjoy …

commercial television is entirely shit. adverts in between programs of adverts starring beautiful people.

that said i still watch too much., they are some gems though, dennis potter, charlie brooker, the thick of it.

Not had a TV since 2002, only miss it when the World Cup is on really. Do watch a bit of stuff on i-player, but mainly listen to music or read when I'm in.

No TV for the last couple of years, it's the way forward.

my tv for the skip in the new year. sick of it. a nasty time vampire. in its place? everything else!

My Mum is in her late 60s but I have introduced her to the Extreme channel. We were watching downhill skiing with jumps and obstacles that was great, but her favourite is the DH 4X mountain bike racing, closely followed by regular DH mountain biking. There is a lot of rubbish of course, but some gems in there. Of course, you could go and read a good book or play a game or go out somewhere too 😀

I bought a WD HDTV box and I just download what I want to watch.

It makes me laugh when people say they're getting rid of the TV, it's a 'time vampire', yada, yada, yada. Rubbish, no-one makes anyone watch tv, it's your own choice how you divide up the spare time available. There are things called PVR's, where you can record TV programmes and actually watch them at a more convenient time. Astonishing what technology can acomplish. I watch quite a lot of TV, things like Life, James May's Toy Story, Later…, CSI, Burn Notice, Dr Who, Ray Mears…
There's loads of interesting, entertaining programming going on, but a viewer has to be discriminating and use their critical filters, it's not difficult. FWIW, I read loads of book, listen to lots of music, and watch TV when I feel like it. What I don't do, however, is spend hours in front of a bloody computer on eBay/Facebook/YouTube, etc.

Lived on my own for three years without one, never missed it. Couldn't manage without Radio 4 though.

Moved back in with the parents and they have one. It amazes me how easily I'm drawn to the damn thing, if it's on I tend to watch it, although I never actually switch it myself, other than a couple of times for the F1 highlights when I've been in. Too easy to think 'I'll just watch this' and then three hours later. Better not to start, or remove the temptation completely.

mostly "OpiumTV" on freeview

I watch about 3 hours a week:

Film4
Ray Mears
Question Time (sometimes, maybe)

Yeah, it's pretty much all shite. I PVR films and some funny programs but nowt else. I could easily do without one. My wife however, would be lost without her soaps. She's probably missing someone in her life.