So what do you do in the evening, then?

[davywavy]

In the comments to my post the other day, I mentioned that I don't own a TV. This is unusual - figures from the TV licensing people suggest that 99.5% of households in the country have a telly in them and such is the ubiquity of the gogglebox that the Joseph Rountree Foundation uses non-ownership of one as an indicator of poverty (this surprises me, as the people I know who don't own a TV tend to be both better educated and in better jobs than the average).
The are distinct advantages to not owning a TV. I don't run the risk of wasting my time watching witless crap like Eastenders, X-Factor, Big Brother or the new Doctor Who, and anything decent like Life on Mars I can pick up DVDs of at Cash Converters six months after they come out.
What was interesting about my comment was that it pulled out a number of other people on my friends list who don't own TV's. According to the above statistic, only one person in every 200 should be telly-less, and so I should only have one person reading me who doesn't as opposed to several which seems to be the case.

So, to satisfy my curiosity:

[Poll #1070038]

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I have a 14" TV which I don't watch, in order to pay a licence fee which pays for radio 4.

Actually, I have been watching Heroes. It's not very good.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Heroes is kinda like Firefly - a bunch of low-level player character archetypes and the DM's girlfriend's 21st-level, impossibly attractive character have adventures designed to appeal to the geek fraternity.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

It's better than Firefly, not nearly as smug and actually funny.

(Ducks and hides from angry nerds.)

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Neither Firefly nor Heroes do it for me for the same reason that I can't bear to listen to people telling me stories about how incredibly kewl their 23rd level barbarian/bard/ninja is.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

I'm developing ST selective hearing. 'Uh-huh, yeah, sure, uh-huh, another gin you say? Uh-huh, yeah... that sounds nice, submit it in a downtime." The smoking ban came at a great time for those types of things.

Perhaps that filter is making me like Heroes. That or my obsession with laughing at hapless Japanese people. Either way.

Deconstructing Firefly

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Mal Reynolds: 7th Level fighter/theif, party leader.
Jayne: 5th level 1/2-orc fighter.
Book: 4th level cleric
Inara: 4th level illusionist, played by a male gamer.
River Tam: 21st level Ninja/Psionicist, played by the DM's 17-stone girlfriend.

Re: Deconstructing Firefly

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

My eyes glazed over when I read 'Fi'

I really didn't understand the appeal of Fir-zzzzzz when it was on. Saw the pilot and thought it looked a lot like Crapylon 5, except without G'kar.

Inara: 4th level illusionist, played by a male gamer.

This is true....... :(

Re: Deconstructing Firefly

[(Anonymous)]

Jayne is the only character with any appeal, it must be said. I found the cleric particularly unappealing. And the chubby emo cow playing the uber psycho ninja? No wonder the game folded.

Re: Deconstructing Firefly

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

She always whined when she didn't understand an element of the rules and it worked against her. Or if the Doritos and sour cream dip ran out.

Re: Deconstructing Firefly

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Sorry - Played by a male gamer who has never had a girlfriend.

Re: Deconstructing Firefly

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Dear gods! I'm not alone.

I just thought it was a complete re-run of Buffy, with some added pseudo-western slang thrown in for good measure. River was Buffy, thus continuing Joss Whedon's strange conviction that if you want a serious combatent, teach a 5'2" tall, 6 stone girl kung fu. Then nothing will stand in her way.

[elbly.livejournal.com]

But I'd do the cheerleader given half the chance...

Mmmmmmm! nubile cheerleaders! mmmmmmmmmm!

[astartesyriaca.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a former DM's girlfriend, I found these equal parts hysterical and embarrassing.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

There may be a certain amount of residual bitterness amongst the male players going on around here.

[astartesyriaca.livejournal.com]

Heh, I noticed. That and fat jokes, which are fine, but somewhat ironic when performed by gamer geeks who socialize online (and apparently in some cases live in council housing).

Flicker, flicker.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Gamers and poor social skills going hand in hand? Never!

[astartesyriaca.livejournal.com]

At least LJ is scent-free ;)

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Only the whiff of intolerance round here, thank you :)

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

LULZY, biotch, do your fucking research before you go off on hypermoral PC tangents about my social skills.

[astartesyriaca.livejournal.com]

Ok - can I rag on your spelling and grammar issues instead?

Calling time on this before it goes any further.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Time.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, you have, like, mad 1337 social skillz

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

They're crazy out there yo.

Calling time on this before it goes any further.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Time.

Re: Calling time on this before it goes any further.

[(Anonymous)]

Aww.