December 13, 2013

Am I Over TV?

Fact: I don't like coffee. I just like saying Coffee Clutch in my best and deepest New York accent. Considering I'm a New Yorker, I'm pretty freaking good at it. So I've got my tea and I hope you have your heated beverage of choice, because it's time to gab the day away.

It's been a little while since I sat down to have a little chat with you guys. I got distracted by a #Readathon, my blogoversary and this silly little Library challenge I tried to do (but I only made it through like 4 of the 16, so whatever, we're going to maybe pretend it never happened, okay?)

But just because it's been a while doesn't mean I don't have things to talk about with you people anymore. I DO. I REALLY DO.

So what's going on in my crazy brain this week? 

Television. 



I don't know if you guys know this, but I'm a huge TV addicted. I watch everything. I'm almost always binging one show or another. Some of my shows are (in alphabetical order because that's how Sidereel lists them for me): Bones, Castle, Community, Criminal Mind, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, Elementary, How I Met Your Mother, Lost Girl, Modern Family, New Girl, Parks and Recreation, Psych, Rizzoli and Isles, Royal Pains, Sherlock, So You Think You Dance, Suits, Supernatural, The Big Bang Theory, The Carrie Diaries, The Crazy Ones, The Mentalist, The Newsroom, The Sing-Off, Warehouse 13 and White Collar. This doesn't even include the shows that are done that I love, like Veronica Mars, Firefly, Gilmore Girls, Sex and the City, etc. 


I know, I know, I'm bananas, but keep in mind: these shows don't all produce new episodes at the same time. And I also like a lot of different things. And I need constant entertainment. Like, I'm watching The Sing-Off as I type this. (It's really amazing, you should watch it and love all of the a cappella, okay?)

I've also downsized a lot over the years. At the beginning of the fall season I pick up all these shows, keep maybe 3 of them, lose shows that've ended and drop shows that've gotten bad (read: Once Upon a Time and Glee, this year). 

But recently, I've found myself staring at my list of unwatched episodes (I use Sidereel to keep track of everything I recommend it so much, it's so worth it to make an account, it is the Goodreads of TV sans reviews and possibly friends - they might have that I just don't use the feature nor do I care, TV is a solo-sport for me - and they will never email you anything) and finding myself entirely uninterested. I've dropped the shows I'm really uninterested in, but then there are others I know I'm still into but I just can't bring myself to open the window and watch. (Except Criminal Minds and The Sing-Off this particular TV season because I'm a crazy sociopath who loves a cappella.)


On the other hand, I find myself reading book summaries and killing myself over how excited I am over the plot summaries. And maybe it's tougher for television because it asks me to be interested in a premise for the weekly installments over the course of years. But then again, book series span over years and you don't get anything for months and months. Books are like Doctor Who Christmas specials without anything in between. Which would probably kill me. So I don't even know how I handle this in between series thing.


I hope that last paragraph wasn't too confusing. I was just thinking aloud in written form.

Ultimately, I think there's just something in my books that I find so much more fulfilling. TV is great and it definitely serves its purpose, but I think, for me, my books - the good ones I find myself reading one after another recently - are hitting the sweet spot TV is kind of missing right now. Not because the shows aren't good anymore, but because my brain wants to process words it can create images for, not words with images already attached.

And to be honest with you guys: If you told me a year ago this would happen, I'd straight up laugh at you. All of my friends would straight up laugh at you (they always give me so much crap for watching all these shows). 


But I'm okay with this change. Books take less time for me to get through than a handful of TV episodes (for the most part) and I have this whole, awesome community to share my thoughts with (both on Twitter and through this blog). But, really, none of this means I'm abandoning my television. I mean, guys, I still have to finish off my Veronica Mars Watch-Along. I have to know who wins The Sing-Off. I have to watch Morgan and Garcia flirt meaninglessly. And I definitely can't ever stop watching Doctor Who. I mean, really. 

I still miss Ten. Have you guys realized that yet?
And now it's your turn. Do YOU watch a lot of TV? Maybe you're more or less interested in the book tube than you used to be. What do you think has changed? Do you think reading lots of books has anything to do with it? Should I stop asking you questions now so you can write words in the comments below? Yeah, I'll do that...