Day: October 18, 2002

If anybody out there is paying attention, it’s time again for the Friday Five:

1. How many TVs do you have in your home? Just the one. Why, do you think I need more?

2. On average, how much TV do you watch in a week? Too much, I’m sure. Looking over the list of shows I actively seek out to watch, I’d say somewhere between 5 and 7 hours a week. That varies, depending on the week, and it also includes both “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (which I’m having taped and mailed to me) and “Push, Nevada” (which is being cancelled after next week). It doesn’t include repeats of “Whose Line is it Anyway?”, which by now I’ve probably seen four or five times apiece, or older episodes of “Buffy”, which I’ve just recently started watching again on FX.

Like I said, too much television. I should read more. I need a life.

3. Do you feel that television is bad for young children? I think television in lieu of parental supervision and interaction is, yes. I think it can be a useful educational tool; I don’t think it should be a babysitter.

4. What TV shows do you absolutely HAVE to watch, and if you miss them, you’re heartbroken? “Buffy”, which I admit is hands-down my favorite show and which I’m always nervous about missing. I also never miss “Alias”, “Angel”, “Whose Line is it Anyway?”, “24”, and “The West Wing”. Additions these season have included “Push” and “Firefly”, and at least one of those has been cancelled. If I had the Sci-Fi Channel, and I was caught up on the earlier seasons, I would have to add “Farscape” to the list. But I don’t have the Sci-Fi Channel, and I’ve only seen up to the first four episodes of season 2.

5. If you had the power to create your own television network, what would your line-up look like? Ratings be damned. I’d only cancel shows if they were really bad or failed to find an audience, not just because the audience they found wasn’t made up of Neilsen families.