i don’t watch tv anymore

After 16 years of loyal service, my 42” Panasonic plasma TV up and died. Just wouldn’t turn on one day. Plasma technology now forever abandoned by retailers worldwide, I was forced to enter the land of LCD TV.

I got a good one, a Samsung, but noticed the difference in picture quality immediately. Generally it’s OK but really frustrating to see the white title cards for Evil Lives Here a murky grey rather than the declarative white I know them to be.

I probably watched it for about 2 weeks before I lost interest. Part of the problem was the kitchen renovation which left my TV unaccessible for a good 6 weeks. I resorted to entertainment on my laptop, primarily true crime docs on Netflix. I discovered a few more YouTube channels too.

Now it’s my default. As I was dusting today I realized I didn’t remember the last time I had turned on my TV. Thinking like the old lady I am precipitously close to becoming, I turned it on… to watch Netflix and YouTube.

I’ve even binged a few series people have turned me onto, like Kevin Can Fuck Himself. Pretty good show; the actress who played Patty was AMAZING. But it seems like every example of TV or film that starts off uniquely creative eventually falls into formula, with the lead characters suddenly making ridiculous deus ex machina-type decisions. Or maybe I’m just a culture snob. I’ll own that.

The TV stands by, looming and dusty, and I continue to choose my laptip or iPad. Do I feel a creeping sense of buyers remorse? Kinda. But the elderly never adapt easily. They stubbornly persist until they part from this mortal coil surrounded by their relics, as will I.