Your TV small talk is ruining dinner parties

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 1:19pm

"Expert TV talk seems effortless, like anyone could do it. It tempts us into being bores."




"We don’t need this in our lives. If our TV talk were on the DVR, we’d delete it."

Updated On: 2/25/15 at 01:19 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 1:32pm

What we talk about when we talk about TV

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 1:33pm

I've never been to a dinner party. I wonder if it's because I talk about tv.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 3:31pm

I dunno. I still go to parties where at least a couple of people proudly announce when any tv show comes up "We don't watch tv at our house..." (Umm, congrats?)

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 3:40pm

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 3:40pm

Even better are the people who proudly claim they don't own a TV, but still have their Netflix and Hulu and HBOGo subscriptions. Somehow it makes you a better person that you watch things on your computer instead of an actual television set?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 3:47pm

Yes! That definitely has become a thing. Those people seem to think they're "Sticking it to the man," or something by watching on anything but a TV set. I mean I do my share of tv downloading, but I don't see it as being some sort of counter-commercialism outlaw.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 4:04pm

Theater is art. Cinema is art. Television is a piece of furniture.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 2/26/15 at 8:49pm

^There's more art on TV these days than in the cinema.

I'd rather talk about TV than hear anyone talk about their children.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/26/15 at 9:39pm

Eric, schtraight up, if I ran into you at a party I would tell you I don't watch TV either, because I don't have all night.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/26/15 at 10:30pm

Send him to my house then, Namo. Eric is welcome to discuss any medium of art or entertainment at my dinner table!

Much as I respect your talent for quips, not every idea can be expressed in 8 words or less.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/27/15 at 12:39am

I'm not the boss of Eric but I'd be happy to start a GOFUNDHIM to make it happen. The only ground rule is you both have to stay off the Internet when he's there.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/27/15 at 12:40am

"Eric, schtraight up, if I ran into you at a party I would tell you I don't watch TV either, because I don't have all night. "

... you have a point. :P

(Gaveston, I appreciate you coming to my defense, but I think I get where Namo is coming from here and the intention it was meant in.)

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/27/15 at 5:22pm

Eric, I suppose I was defending you, but I meant every word I said. I get bored with the endless lists of unsupported opinions interrupted only by the occasional snark. (Before I start a war, Namo, the previous sentence was NOT a personal reference to you.)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/27/15 at 5:27pm

Dear lord, Gaveston.

Eric, if you go there, make sure you get the money UP FRONT.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/27/15 at 6:57pm

"I'm not the boss of Eric but I'd be happy to start a GOFUNDHIM to make it happen. The only ground rule is you both have to stay off the Internet when he's there."

This is a brilliant idea. I betcha I could fund more money than that gay couple who wanted to have their dream 100,000$ gay wedding!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/28/15 at 7:09pm

"Dear lord, Gaveston.

Eric, if you go there, make sure you get the money UP FRONT."

See what I mean, Namo? The post above is genuinely funny, but few of us have your wit.

So left with a choice between "Favorite Musicals from the Late 1920s" (all with no explanation or substantiation) and Eric or others thinking aloud as they form opinions, I'll take the latter.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 3/2/15 at 12:51am

I know people who don't own televisions but I've never sensed that they think they're "better" than others because of it, any more than those who don't own a car or a tux or a home. I'm more incredulous when people say they don't go to the theater or read books than I am when they say they don't watch tv.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/2/15 at 8:30am

I have observed an eccentric new elitism about what one watches that wasn't prevalent five years ago. I recently posted that I enjoyed THE SLAP, the first hour drama I've waded into in years since I loathe police procedurals and the equivalent. Many people wanted to shout down not only my initially positive response, but the show's very existence. "Heads will roll at NBC!" "It's not the Australian version!" Okay, fine. It felt like high school, the coolness vibe established by an acceptable taste in bands (or Apted movie-ville, forever adolescence, i.e. "You're so gay you like Coldplay.") Television isn't a vast wasteland, but many of us have only so many hours of our lives we care to devote to its either esoteric or pedestrian nooks and crannies. Sometimes we grab something simply because we haven't see its milieu or point of view before. To those who spend hours parsing trends and finding nuances in various editions, enjoy. Sometimes, it's just a place we dip in. And full disclosure: as a member of the WGA who gets a pension check monthly, I'd be a damn fool to say anything against the medium. It has paid my rent. Yet watching it or not is not a litmus test for (puerile) taste or coolness. It's still the hearth with a remote. Some days it's damned toasty, others preferable to warm ourselves elsewhere.

Updated On: 3/2/15 at 08:30 AM

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 4:36pm

I honestly think that those who say that they stream their TV shows from Netflix, Amazon prime, hulu etc are not at all trying to be or come off as pretentious. I know plenty of people who have either a Roku or Apple TV and do just that. It's not trying to be pretentious or come off as better than someone. The people who do it do so because the monthly fees for everything added up is much cheaper than cable. And, if you live in NYC, a huge less of a hassle than having to deal with Time Warner. To them, it's about saving money more than anything.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:21pm

Auggie, do you mean the first hour network drama (I know you were a big fan of the excellent first season of The Leftovers?) And absolutely--there's especially a snobbism about network tv, but I guess that's been true for a while (I made the mistake of telling my 8 grade class that my fave show was All My Children, so trust me :P ) I dunno if commenting on a show being a remake is always snobby though--certainly most people talking about a Hollywood remake of a foreign film would do the same.

[NoName3]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 7:30pm

Martha Dudley: You know, Mr. Baxter, you look very familiar to me.
Ted Baxter: Oh, you've probably seen me on television.
Martha Dudley: No, I don't watch television. I have a fireplace.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 8:15pm

So basically, the conversation police are telling me that my friends and I should not discuss something we have in common and enjoy discussing because they think it's dumbing down society. That sounds a lot dumber than discussing something you have in common and enjoy.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 9:13pm

Oh, I just think it's a cautionary tale urging us to step out of the conversation to really see if anything's being said at all.

There are no pc police or conversation cops. Alliteration always!

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 3/4/15 at 1:46am

Matt, as you haven't posted anything on this thread, I doubt anyone is directing anything at what you and your friends might be discussing because we know nothing of it.