An Engaging Predicament

My fianceè and I once had a terrific television life. We never disagreed on shows to watch. I was enthralled to watch her programs and she was more than willing to watch mine. It was paradise, it was a pleasure, it was destined to pass. And so it did.

I always like to watch the news and documentaries. She liked to watch reality TV and E! I found it interesting for a while. The social, psychological, and physical competition of the Survivor series; the dynamics were quite entertaining. The previously foreign world of the celebrities; their bazaar lifestyles and antics never ceased to entertain... For a while anyways.

Paradise started to fade during the election year coverage. I was glued to the news channels and rented as many documentaries as there were available concerning politics. I occasionally took breaks from the depressing state of the world and watched her programs. I eventually realized that those "I Love the #0's" shows were all reruns over and over and over again. And all the E! Programs were collections of clips provided by agents to promote their clients. I hated the idea of watching these long and drawn out commercials to enhance a person's celebrity.

We eventually resigned to watching only a certain show together. We would try to watch this program at least once a week. That show is "Survivor". Every week "Survivor". Same show every week. Boring as hell, but it keeps me alive. I survive because of "Survivor". The remaining time would be spent reading, studying, or doing other independent work.

Our television life has apparently suffered. I would like to watch more. Its just that we can't agree on much when it comes to the television. Either I'm not in the mood or she's not in the mood. We're not in synch. But does that really matter? How important is a good television life?

I do get the feeling that I'm suffering from television withdrawal. I'm used to an active television life; watching several shows every week. Now I feel deprived. She thinks that I'm being unreasonable. She thinks that we're in a healthier cycle now as opposed to when we watched television everyday. I disagree. I need to have a consistent intake of television in order to avoid that agitation and tension of withdrawal. Sometimes I'll sneak up to our room with my palm pilot and get my news from the internet. That is my main form of news satisfaction, since TV isn't an option anymore.

She says things will change when we get our own place. "We can watch any show we'd like without having to consider the tastes of the other people at each other's house." But she always says it will get better. When our television life started to dip at her apartment, she said "wait until summer, it will get better when we have more free time." Didn't happen. "It will get better when the new seasons start. " Didn't happen. The only consistency is a dwindling of the current television we already watch.

I've tried to spice things up; rent a movie, buy a movie, borrow a movie, or whatever. She's unresponsive to these attempts. We'll start watching them but she'll lose interest and we'll turn it off well before the midpoint of the movie. She says, "We'll finish it tomorrow." But we never do. The movie just gathers dust as it sits above the VCR.

I've grown to accept this whole predicament as just the way my television life will continue. Surviving on "Survivor" and filling my news desire with my palm pilot. I love her. There's no doubt about it, but I can definitely use more TV in my life.