harveywhispers
04-20-2003, 10:28 AM
Thought you all might like to know the results of this:
http://www.watchfarscape.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9195&highlight=pioneer+press
----------------
Posted on Sun, Apr. 20, 2003
BY RICHARD CHIN
Pioneer Press
You've probably heard someone say his or her favorite television show is the best thing on TV.
But how many say it's the only thing on TV?
Hard to believe, but some folks own a TV merely to watch a single show. They tune in for a half-hour or an hour a week, or maybe just a few times a year. The rest of the time, the TV is just a black, boxy dust magnet.
Compared with these mono-gamists, most of us are promiscuous. We flit from show to show: a tryst with "Joe Millionaire," a dalliance with "Star Search," juggling relationships with "Friends," "Law & Order" and "Sex and the City."
Frank Lloyd Wright called television chewing gum for the eyes. But it's really more like potato chips. Entertainment's version of junk food: not very nutritional, but hard to eat just one. It's probably easier to consider going cold turkey, throwing out the set and becoming a TV celibate.
That's why we wanted to talk to readers who say they are faithful to one show and one show only, 'til death ? or cancellation ? do they part.
How did they get that way? What keeps them true? And what could that one show be? Here's what they told us:
MARY LOU LOGSDON AND "WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW"
Every Friday night, a bunch of talking-head journalists hash out the week's events for a half-hour on public television. And that's the only time Logsdon, a St. Paul graduate student, has the television on.
"I watch nothing else," she said. "It is an intelligent show. I learn something. It's like reading the editorial page, which I do as well."
She likes the host, Gwen Ifill, and guests like NPR reporter Tom Gjelten. "I've never seen anyone from the St. Paul paper on it."
Plus, it's on at a convenient time. "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" conflicts with dinner hour. Logsdon is in church during the Sunday-morning news-wonk shows. And "I don't watch 'Almanac' because it's too kind of silly."
If the show were canceled, "I probably wouldn't watch any TV."
"It's not that I don't think there are decent shows on," she said. But "every time I think about watching TV, I think I'd rather do something else."
MARY OLSON AND "ED"
Olson, a school district communications director from St. Paul, said she had pretty much given up regular TV watching way back when Diane left "Cheers."
Then, her husband suggested they see the NBC show about a lawyer who owns a bowling alley.
"So, I sat down one night, and I thought, 'Yeah, it's not too bad.' "
Good enough to watch if she's home on Friday evenings. But not good enough to make the ultimate act of devotion: learning how to program the VCR for the evenings when she isn't home.
"It's just too much hassle," she said.
And finding one watchable show hasn't tempted her into seeing if there's something even better on TV.
"I don't want to waste time trying to find out what's interesting," she said. "I did try to watch another one. The one about the White House. It seemed too much like my job."
Several other self-described "Ed-heads" contacted us to proclaim their "Eddiction" and their fears that the show might be axed.
"I hope it stays on the air because if it gets canceled, I will SCREAM!!!" e-mailed one.
TONI LAMBERT AND "FARSCAPE"
The weekly newspaper copy editor from St. Paul Park was just one of several people who contacted us to pledge their devotion to the now-canceled SCI FI cable channel drama.
Lambert said she rarely watched TV but got hooked on the show when she saw a video of the first season.
"I loved it. It was great. It was really, really good."
"Farscape has set the bar so high for my television-viewing standards that going back to network programming bores me," e-mailed another fan, Vermont college student Amanda Gustin. Spoiled by "Farscape," she dropped "Friends," "The Simpsons" and "ER."
Now, she watches only "Farscape" reruns.
ANGELA REDLAND AND "ER"
'It's the only hour I'm willing to give up to sit in front of a TV," said Redland, a White Bear Lake mother of three young children. "I've just gotten more picky all the time."
"When the doctor died a couple of years ago, I cried," she said of her only show. Her husband is an ER nurse. "He's always saying how fake (the show) is. I don't care."
"I'll probably be sad" if the NBC hospital drama goes off the air, she said. "But will I find another show? I don't know."
SUSAN KOEFOD AND "WILL & GRACE"
'I've seen over the years that my television viewing has dwindled," said Koefod, a West St. Paul writer, graduate student and mother of three. Now, it's down to a half-hour a week, an NBC sitcom.
"It's funny and smart," she said. But "when I watched it last night, it was not particularly funny."
"I think we're probably people who don't want to be watching TV," she said of television monogamists. "Maybe this is my last attachment to it."
SUSAN THOMPSON AND "THE PRACTICE"
"I usually avoid the TV like the plague," said the St. Paul tax accountant. "I hate watching TV."
But she said her daughter coaxed her into watching the ABC law drama.
"I'm addicted," she said of her one television show. "The acting and writing are superb, the characterizations realistic and the outcomes rarely predictable."
But it's a guilty pleasure, Thompson said.
"There could be shows I like more," but "I don't want to possibly waste more time watching TV."
CATHERINE JACK DEAVEL AND "SMALLVILLE"
The University of St. Thomas philosophy professor from St. Paul said the WB show based on a comic book character is "easily the most literate network show we've seen."
Deavel said she and husband, Dave, started watching the show about Superman as a teenager because he was curious about seeing a television version of the comics he had read. She said they were struck at how often the show addresses the consequences of making moral choices.
"If the show goes off the air, the television will still be useful to hold up coffee mugs and to watch the occasional video, but there isn't an obvious contender to fill 'Smallville's' shoes," she said.
KARIN THOMPSON AND "IRON CHEF"
The St. Paul resident and cooking-class student said this Food Network cooking competition is the only reason to have a TV.
"They have a marathon of it, and I tape every one," she said. "I don't feel like it's a fetish of mine. I just feel like it's a fun thing."
B. DANIEL AND "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER"
B. Daniel, a Minneapolis teacher and watch technician who says he never uses his last name, works 70 hours a week but still makes a point to catch this one show on UPN.
"The one night I request off is Tuesday because Tuesday night is 'Buffy' night," he said in an e-mail. "When the show ends this spring, I will mourn. My plan is to buy up and tape as much 'Buffy' as I can before it goes so I have something to entertain myself with on Tuesday nights."
He said friends make fun of him and try to get him to watch "West Wing."
"They say, 'This is a real show about real people.' "
FRED MARX AND "WEST WING"
The St. Louis Park sales manager said the NBC drama is the only thing he has time to watch, and he's already backed up on his viewing.
"I have been forced to tape these shows since last Thanksgiving. I now have about 12 hours on tape and am hoping to find time to watch them. Perhaps by Christmas 2005."
JEANETTE PREMO AND THE WORLD SERIES AND THE SUPER BOWL:
More than one show, we know, but Premo said those are the only times she turns on the television.
"Doesn't matter who plays, especially for the Super Bowl, but that's what we use it for," said the St. Paul consultant.
"If you don't watch TV for a year, think about the culture shock you get once a year. It's very interesting."
OTHER DEVOTEES
Finally, we found a few other people who say they watch more than one show but just one channel or just one type of show.
Sallie Raleigh, a nurse from Belle Plaine, said all she watches is the HGTV cable channel. Kathy Erickson e-mailed us to say she is a CNN junkie. Denny Jakoubek said his television is permanently tuned to MSNBC.
Ben Stein wrote to say he watches five different shows, but they are all WWE wrestling shows, so he considers it one program. A couple of readers said they tune in only to "Booknotes" on CSPAN.
And someone named Siggy Twoohoh e-mailed to say he (or she) catches the Channel 17 aviation weather in the morning and the KSTP 6 p.m. news. "Try to time it at the weather forecast broadcast time, other junk, could care less about."
Just say no
Is even one show too much TV? That's what the TV-Turnoff Network is saying this week. The national nonprofit organization has declared April 21-27 TV-Turnoff Week 2003. For more information, see www.tvturnoff.org.
-----------------
Great job!!
http://www.watchfarscape.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9195&highlight=pioneer+press
----------------
Posted on Sun, Apr. 20, 2003
BY RICHARD CHIN
Pioneer Press
You've probably heard someone say his or her favorite television show is the best thing on TV.
But how many say it's the only thing on TV?
Hard to believe, but some folks own a TV merely to watch a single show. They tune in for a half-hour or an hour a week, or maybe just a few times a year. The rest of the time, the TV is just a black, boxy dust magnet.
Compared with these mono-gamists, most of us are promiscuous. We flit from show to show: a tryst with "Joe Millionaire," a dalliance with "Star Search," juggling relationships with "Friends," "Law & Order" and "Sex and the City."
Frank Lloyd Wright called television chewing gum for the eyes. But it's really more like potato chips. Entertainment's version of junk food: not very nutritional, but hard to eat just one. It's probably easier to consider going cold turkey, throwing out the set and becoming a TV celibate.
That's why we wanted to talk to readers who say they are faithful to one show and one show only, 'til death ? or cancellation ? do they part.
How did they get that way? What keeps them true? And what could that one show be? Here's what they told us:
MARY LOU LOGSDON AND "WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW"
Every Friday night, a bunch of talking-head journalists hash out the week's events for a half-hour on public television. And that's the only time Logsdon, a St. Paul graduate student, has the television on.
"I watch nothing else," she said. "It is an intelligent show. I learn something. It's like reading the editorial page, which I do as well."
She likes the host, Gwen Ifill, and guests like NPR reporter Tom Gjelten. "I've never seen anyone from the St. Paul paper on it."
Plus, it's on at a convenient time. "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" conflicts with dinner hour. Logsdon is in church during the Sunday-morning news-wonk shows. And "I don't watch 'Almanac' because it's too kind of silly."
If the show were canceled, "I probably wouldn't watch any TV."
"It's not that I don't think there are decent shows on," she said. But "every time I think about watching TV, I think I'd rather do something else."
MARY OLSON AND "ED"
Olson, a school district communications director from St. Paul, said she had pretty much given up regular TV watching way back when Diane left "Cheers."
Then, her husband suggested they see the NBC show about a lawyer who owns a bowling alley.
"So, I sat down one night, and I thought, 'Yeah, it's not too bad.' "
Good enough to watch if she's home on Friday evenings. But not good enough to make the ultimate act of devotion: learning how to program the VCR for the evenings when she isn't home.
"It's just too much hassle," she said.
And finding one watchable show hasn't tempted her into seeing if there's something even better on TV.
"I don't want to waste time trying to find out what's interesting," she said. "I did try to watch another one. The one about the White House. It seemed too much like my job."
Several other self-described "Ed-heads" contacted us to proclaim their "Eddiction" and their fears that the show might be axed.
"I hope it stays on the air because if it gets canceled, I will SCREAM!!!" e-mailed one.
TONI LAMBERT AND "FARSCAPE"
The weekly newspaper copy editor from St. Paul Park was just one of several people who contacted us to pledge their devotion to the now-canceled SCI FI cable channel drama.
Lambert said she rarely watched TV but got hooked on the show when she saw a video of the first season.
"I loved it. It was great. It was really, really good."
"Farscape has set the bar so high for my television-viewing standards that going back to network programming bores me," e-mailed another fan, Vermont college student Amanda Gustin. Spoiled by "Farscape," she dropped "Friends," "The Simpsons" and "ER."
Now, she watches only "Farscape" reruns.
ANGELA REDLAND AND "ER"
'It's the only hour I'm willing to give up to sit in front of a TV," said Redland, a White Bear Lake mother of three young children. "I've just gotten more picky all the time."
"When the doctor died a couple of years ago, I cried," she said of her only show. Her husband is an ER nurse. "He's always saying how fake (the show) is. I don't care."
"I'll probably be sad" if the NBC hospital drama goes off the air, she said. "But will I find another show? I don't know."
SUSAN KOEFOD AND "WILL & GRACE"
'I've seen over the years that my television viewing has dwindled," said Koefod, a West St. Paul writer, graduate student and mother of three. Now, it's down to a half-hour a week, an NBC sitcom.
"It's funny and smart," she said. But "when I watched it last night, it was not particularly funny."
"I think we're probably people who don't want to be watching TV," she said of television monogamists. "Maybe this is my last attachment to it."
SUSAN THOMPSON AND "THE PRACTICE"
"I usually avoid the TV like the plague," said the St. Paul tax accountant. "I hate watching TV."
But she said her daughter coaxed her into watching the ABC law drama.
"I'm addicted," she said of her one television show. "The acting and writing are superb, the characterizations realistic and the outcomes rarely predictable."
But it's a guilty pleasure, Thompson said.
"There could be shows I like more," but "I don't want to possibly waste more time watching TV."
CATHERINE JACK DEAVEL AND "SMALLVILLE"
The University of St. Thomas philosophy professor from St. Paul said the WB show based on a comic book character is "easily the most literate network show we've seen."
Deavel said she and husband, Dave, started watching the show about Superman as a teenager because he was curious about seeing a television version of the comics he had read. She said they were struck at how often the show addresses the consequences of making moral choices.
"If the show goes off the air, the television will still be useful to hold up coffee mugs and to watch the occasional video, but there isn't an obvious contender to fill 'Smallville's' shoes," she said.
KARIN THOMPSON AND "IRON CHEF"
The St. Paul resident and cooking-class student said this Food Network cooking competition is the only reason to have a TV.
"They have a marathon of it, and I tape every one," she said. "I don't feel like it's a fetish of mine. I just feel like it's a fun thing."
B. DANIEL AND "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER"
B. Daniel, a Minneapolis teacher and watch technician who says he never uses his last name, works 70 hours a week but still makes a point to catch this one show on UPN.
"The one night I request off is Tuesday because Tuesday night is 'Buffy' night," he said in an e-mail. "When the show ends this spring, I will mourn. My plan is to buy up and tape as much 'Buffy' as I can before it goes so I have something to entertain myself with on Tuesday nights."
He said friends make fun of him and try to get him to watch "West Wing."
"They say, 'This is a real show about real people.' "
FRED MARX AND "WEST WING"
The St. Louis Park sales manager said the NBC drama is the only thing he has time to watch, and he's already backed up on his viewing.
"I have been forced to tape these shows since last Thanksgiving. I now have about 12 hours on tape and am hoping to find time to watch them. Perhaps by Christmas 2005."
JEANETTE PREMO AND THE WORLD SERIES AND THE SUPER BOWL:
More than one show, we know, but Premo said those are the only times she turns on the television.
"Doesn't matter who plays, especially for the Super Bowl, but that's what we use it for," said the St. Paul consultant.
"If you don't watch TV for a year, think about the culture shock you get once a year. It's very interesting."
OTHER DEVOTEES
Finally, we found a few other people who say they watch more than one show but just one channel or just one type of show.
Sallie Raleigh, a nurse from Belle Plaine, said all she watches is the HGTV cable channel. Kathy Erickson e-mailed us to say she is a CNN junkie. Denny Jakoubek said his television is permanently tuned to MSNBC.
Ben Stein wrote to say he watches five different shows, but they are all WWE wrestling shows, so he considers it one program. A couple of readers said they tune in only to "Booknotes" on CSPAN.
And someone named Siggy Twoohoh e-mailed to say he (or she) catches the Channel 17 aviation weather in the morning and the KSTP 6 p.m. news. "Try to time it at the weather forecast broadcast time, other junk, could care less about."
Just say no
Is even one show too much TV? That's what the TV-Turnoff Network is saying this week. The national nonprofit organization has declared April 21-27 TV-Turnoff Week 2003. For more information, see www.tvturnoff.org.
-----------------
Great job!!