Forrestinavintage

On his Slice blog, Paul Turner offers this question as Thanksgiving approaches: A) No TV on Thursday. B) No TV except for seven hours of football. C) It can be on until there is a fight over control of the remote. D) The TV is never off at our home. E) Other.

When I hear someone boasting that “I never watch television,” as I did the other day, I always want to ask a few cheeky questions: Have you also forsaken electric lights? Do you use indoor plumbing? How long does it take you to drive your buggy to work? When your foot gets infected, do you refuse modern cures like antibiotics? Do you remain true to your old standby, rubbing bat mucus and cobwebs on that pesky foot? If you don't watch television, do you ever listen to that new-fangled gadget, the radio? Do you write letters with a quill pen or do you use those satanic invitations to wasting time, the computer, the Internet and e-mail? Do you read parchment scrolls instead of books?/Bill Hall, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Some are all too willing to tell us about the evils of television. What do you consider to be the greatest benefits of TV?

This undated photo provided by West Elm shows square wood trays for TV dining.

In a way, Super Bowl Sunday is a festive celebration of one of America’s beloved bad habits. No, not football – eating in front of the TV.

Studies suggest chowing down while watching television isn’t good for you. (If you aren’t really paying attention to what you are shoveling into your mouth, it’s easy to consume too many calories.)

In addition, frowning observers of American family dynamics have warned for decades that being glued to a TV while having a meal diminishes any prospect of meaningful communication.

Family member A: “What can we do to give our lives authenticity and meaning?”

Family member B: “Huh? What? Show’s on.”

That’s not anyone’s vision of gracious living. Paul Turner, SR

Dining with the TV on is verbotten in our home. Every now and then we'll have a pizza/movie night, but that's the exception, not the rule.

Do you dine with the television on in your house?

Herb Huseland: Watching football and other activities this week-end, I suffered through the promo trailers for the fall network programing. It appears that most if not all featured very violent content. My question is: Is this a reflection of our violent society? Or is it a cause? This question probably occured to me with the announcement of the death of the “Leave it to Beaver” star. Entertainment seems to be much more into destruction and mayhem than when I was young.

Question: Is entertainment more into destruction and mayhem today than during your formative years?

This started out as a joke. The punchline was to be something like this: If disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer can get himself a primetime slot on CNN, why can’t disgraced former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig do the same, albeit on a statewide or regional network? It’s funny - until you talk to someone who knows television. Then you’d hear about the curiosity factor. Spitzer was a political car wreck people couldn’t avoid watching - the hard-charging governor was caught frequenting call girls and had to resign his office. Now CNN is pairing him with Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Kathleen Parker, and the thinking is Spitzer’s notoriety is just enough to lure viewers/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Would you watch a TV program that included former U.S. senator Larry Craig? 

Marmitetoasty says,”Everyone that owns a telly here in Britain, irrespective of if you have cable or sky, HAS to have a ‘telly license’ its about £140 ($280) a year and even if where you live just has a tiny portable telly or you have 4 or 5 big widescreens the price is the same…..its not on how many tellys you have…. you can have 1 or 10, you just have to have one license….. ” Full comment here.

In an earth-shattering HBO moment Larry Spencer and Spookelooneh are in complete agreement and advocate no TV at all. You know, I could watch “Lost” on my computer, so I’m kinda leaning to the no-TV camp.

How about you? If you had to pay for a TV license would you, or would you just say “no” to television?

Singer Jewel and real-life hubby Ty Murray are set to duke it out against each other on the dance floor. Also, quick-footed cutie Julianne Hough is pairing up with her beau, country crooner Chuck Wicks, to battle their competitors. The newly engaged pro-dancers Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff will also take each other on in the dance competition. Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, 17, has joined the cast as the youngest competitor ever. Pop star Belinda Carlisle (of the Go Gos), Denise Richards, former NFL star Lawrence Taylor, Lil’ Kim, Steve-O, Apple founder Steve Wozniak, actors David Alan Grier, Gilles Marini and TV personality Nancy O’Dell finish out the celebrity cast/ExtraTV. More here.

Question: Are you a good dancer?