Face it: Television is a necessary evil

Just as you have people with different sexual preferences (I know that’s a strange parallel to draw) you have people who constitute different TV types. In all my years as a TV watcher and writer I have met so many people who I have quizzed on everything from their favourite TV show to the business of TRPs to the actors that sell the shows. Where some have been forthcoming and spoken candidly and even passionately about the show they watch some have pretended they don’t ever watch a GEC! This set me thinking…is it infra dig to watch TV? Is ‘Soaps are not my cup of tea’ a fashionable statement to make? Does confessing to being a couch potato mar your social status? I did some analysis, the findings of which I share with you…Now you decide which type you belong to. Type 1: The viewer who is proud of being a TV buff Type 2: The viewer who is a closet viewer (now you know why I made that reference to sexual preference) Type 3: The viewer who will proudly discuss the last film he saw but will not reveal the last episode of the soap he watched last night. Type 4: The new age male viewer who makes no bones about the fact that he watches saas-bahu shows Type 5: The viewer who has the TV on 24x 7 but may or not be watching anything in particular Often, people who dismiss TV are the very same who contribute to a show's huge ratings. They watch, but are for some reason probably ashamed of it and don't want to admit it. There's certainly no reason to be shy and spending some time in front of the TV is better than surfing porn on the Internet (I know men are shaking their heads to this one!). I think people who pretend they don't watch TV probably fear the judgment of others. By the way those other people are probably watching TV shows too. It doesn't make it any less ridiculous, though, for everyone to pretend that no one's watching, say Bigg Boss or Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa or Uttaran when it's one of the most popular TV shows in the country. Recently an actress who is playing the protagonist on a prime time show mentioned to me that after her show became successful she has been hounded by male fans. And this definitely surprised her as she believed her show had a predominantly female audience. In fact she said that many men come to watch her on the set and also take pictures with her. Now this is an interesting trend. What most market research agencies would miss when taking that spot poll would be is to not even approach that one odd male. But for me the viewer I love is the one who wears his favourite show on his sleeve! He will not just confess that he is watching a particular show, but will also create a fan page for the same and even cry when the show goes off air. And then plead to all who care to listen that a sequel be made. And my heart goes out to that lonely soul who uses the television set as a companion. He keeps it on all hours of the day as the characters on the shows keep him company. So as I sign out all I can say is that this medium isn’t as bad as you make it out to be. Yes, there is stuff you can eliminate from your list of must-watch. And once that is done you have made the right choice. Because that’s the best part about TV, though, there's an incredible range in subject matter and formats. Some shows are light and entertaining, some are emotional, others teach you something about the world. There's so much that it's impossible to watch it all, and therefore we have the ability to choose. We can choose to ignore the awful stuff. But whatever your choice is, do not just dismiss television, as this medium is here to stay. Read more...