July 29th, 2007
Watching me watching you
There’s been a lot of chatter recently in the news that apparently, you can’t trust everything you see on television.
I’m not sure how that constitutes news though, as far as I’m concerned, television isn’t about truth, it’s about entertainment. Like an old friend with tall tales, you accept that some of it may be embellished for the sake of keeping your interest.
If you want the truth, go out there and find it for yourself.
If you want your life to be sucked out through your eyes, turn on the box…
Technorati Tags: television, news, comics, webcomic, technology
Sean on 
Maddie on
personally, i agree completely. i dont watch tv to get a view of the world, i watch it, usually, to make me laugh. some people do get sucked in though, and that is a sad thing.
I think that’s the most reasonable way to be. Though I must admit to be a recovering teleaddict. Not that I ever believed any of it though, just that I enjoyed some of the lies.
I think you know it’s going awry when you find yourself watching things you don’t even like.
I suppose we should do a favourite/least favourite section here. No judgement, just the facts.
I’ll start:
Favourite: I’m a sucker for home-made clip shows… in the UK, You’ve Framed, for example. Purile slapstick at it’s best, a guilty pleasure.
Least favourite: Reality shows that try to help idiots sort their life out. They make me actually shout at the television… oh, and anything with ‘celebrity’ as the first word in its title.
It’s easy to spot a television-educated person. They tend to be indignant about some social wrong and yet clearly haven’t thought it through. I have no problem with rehashing, but you have to be witty enough and well-read enough to buffer yourself if you happen to rehash in front of a truth-prodder. I have a couple friends who have a particular knack at asking just the right questions to immediately deflate hollow statements. And they’re always extremely polite as they do it, too.
You’re absolutely right. Learning from television is as perilous as learning from The Daily Mail; sure there may be some facts, but the context is often woefully biased.
One of my pet hates is science on television. The two just don’t get along. Science is about the long crawl towards knowledge wheras TV is all about instant information. Often they will invite top scientists on to give an opinion, but limit them to 5-second soundbites. How do you condense several years worth of study into a few seconds?
I don’t mind ‘opinion’, or even just ‘comment’ but if someone starts forwarding ‘fact’, I’m going to need some evidence that they know what they’re on about.
wow, i like the sound of those witty friends! reminds me of mine, actually.
i, too, used to watch a whole heap of tv, but year 11 and other things to make my life busy eventually got rhe better of the box, and now i dont miss it. i just have a couple of shows i watch every week, which is a good way to be. there is reliable, half hourly news on the radio station i listen to, so i can keep up with the world without having to watch biased stuffed from the tv.
it just registered in my mind that i really enjoy reading the comments on here. you all seem like smart people.
Even better than that, not just smart, but with a sense of humour too.
I too am impressed by the calibre of commentators on my comic; The Flowfield Unity Brain Trust.
Welcome back, Adam- you have been missed. Sorry about what happened to your microwave.
I think there have been some decent science programs on TV. I’m quite fond of “Mythbusters” from the US and “Sponge” from Korea. Many people seem to think that the scientific method is a magical process, so it’s good to see it illustrated in an accessible and entertaining way. Go to YouTube and search for “Mr. Show The Limits of Science” for a relevant video.
Favorite TV Shows: This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Coupling, Red Dwarf, Broken News (we just recently got BBC Entertainment here in Korea and it’s wonderful), Mythbusters, any UC Gundam series, Red Green, the original Muppet Show, Jungle wa Itsumo Hale Noche Guu, the Prisoner, Robot Wars…
Least Favorites: Family intervention reality shows like Nanny 911, most non-UC Gundam shows, psychic/supernatural shows on Discovery channel, and Korean dramas that feature a gangster, a schoolgirl, and someone with an incurable disease.
Hey, Red Dwarf, I think I can quote that by heart, every episode. It’s a shame that Craig Charles (Lister) has been outed as a porn loving cokehead.
Right now, its spiritual sucessor, Hyperdrive is being shown in the UK, well worth checking out if you can… especially for Nick Frost and Kevin Eldon.
As for Mythbusters, I really like that show, though it does make you wonder if everyone called Adam has a dodgy beard.
Nanny 911 *shudders*
Sorry to break it to you Joseph and Adam, but Myth Busters do not use scientific method.
They use something vaguely resembling science. Brainiac is even worse.
Tho I still watch the show for entertainment value, any show that blows up that much stuff gets my vote.
I don’t own a TV, so I won’t comment on which shows I watch.
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article Watching me watching you, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
‘Like an old friend with tall tales, you accept that some of it may be embellished for the sake of keeping your interest.’
You think that too? !! That is exactly how I see the TV! ^_^