I have never been a huge TV fanatic. Maybe EastEnders if I’m in, Dragon’s Den if it’s on, and MasterChef the amateurs and professionals, when it’s in season is always a must. Greg Wallace and his food descriptions keep me highly entertained: “It’s like a hug from the Aladdin’s cave of pudding delights.” See!?
But quite recently, I found myself falling into a dark TV rut where I have been actively looking for things to watch rather than being productive.
Cold Feet was back Monday night after 13 years which I was most excited about. I was especially happy to see James Nesbit’s new eyebrows. Two jet black painted on eyebrows that even had their own article in the news about them the day after.
Half was through last week, with nothing to do and feeling unmotivated, I ended up flicking through the channels and landed a program called Secret Eaters. The concept was simple – overweight people who secretly eat far too much. While this was on, I was eating a sickly sweet salted caramel thing I had been given from my neighbour for looking after her plant. I had felt bad as my cat had eaten half the plant. I can’t even look after a plant properly and there was I was scoffing on something I shouldn’t have accepted. All in all, watching the program and eating a lump of sugar was not my idea of a banging Wednesday night.
And of course the return of X Factor has been on my list to watch which has turned into a necessity now that Louis, Sharon and Nicole are back. Why Simon even asked Cheryl back to the show was always alien to me. And Nick Grimshaw’s “That was great” to everyone auditioning made me and the rest of Britain really hate what X Factor was becoming. Shit.
But what took the final biscuit, was last night. I found myself slumped in front of the TV watching Angela Griffin and Gloria Hunniford drone on about scammers on a program called Rip off Britain. It was then I thought to myself I need to get my life back. My TV watching was getting out of hand and it had to be stopped there and then before I turned into a proper TV addict.
I have now made the conscious decision to watch less TV. Sounds simple. So going out, writing more, attending the gym like someone confessing their sins to a priest is now on my list. Yes, it has been that long since I’ve worked out.
Don’t get me wrong, the TV is a great invention, you can learn a lot from all the documentaries that are on offer and you can be highly entertained by some of the comedy you can catch on Comedy Gold. But if you find yourself not living life to stay in to watch repeats of Eldorado, that’s when you know you need to get out a little more. And no, I don’t look up repeats of Eldorado. Yet.
