tv turnoff week

I just learned that this week was TV Turnoff Week. It's a campaign that started in Canada 11 years ago that encourages families to kick the boob-tube habit for one entire week. Since its inception, it's been picked up by advocacy groups in the U.S. and 11 other countries.

What a shame I missed it. Not that it would have particularly rocked my world - the only time my TV gets turned on is when Avery or Liam come over to be babysat, get bored and want to watch a video. This happens every, oh, six months or so. Its most frequent use is when I have a Korean roommate who wants to polish their English by vegging in front of the idiot box instead of getting out and actually communicating with people.

It's a funny thing, really. I used to be a TV addict. Growing up, all I did was watch TV. We're talking first thing in the morning - Romper Room and Captain Kangaroo. After school it was Happy Days and Little House on the Prairie reruns and - - I'm sure there was something else in there. Flinstones? But there was more - so much more, I can't even recall it all. Three's Company, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, The Gong Show, Sha Na Na, . . . I think I was the only kid in Grade 3 who watched Saturday Night Live.

Oh, then there were the soap operas. I grew up on Another World, then branched off into General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, All My Children and One Life to Live when I got into high school. When they switched Days over to 9 a.m. the schedule ran so that I could effectively watch TV from rising to sleep time during holidays. After the soaps, of course, there was (cringe) Oprah, then a series of reruns and then the evening line-up would begin - Growing Pains, Family Ties, etc. etc. etc. repeat until nauseous. And let's not forget about Much Music, which would bridge the gaps when nothing else was on!

I remember once, when I was about 15, my grandfather offered Kelly and I $100 each if we could go an entire year without watching ANYthing. I made it six months or so in, but fell off when I was at a birthday party and they watched a video and my grandma told me that, yes, it counts. Kelly stuck it out to the end, however, and to this day (I just checked with her now) says it was a jip. It didn't do her any good, either. I remember coming upstairs during commercial breaks and seeing her staring blankly at the radio dial, trying to block out the laughter she heard coming from downstairs, over the antics of Sam and Diane and the gang (interestingly, though, she says she no longer watches much TV now, either - just don't ask her about Survivor. Or Friends).

My next break came when I went to school in England and there were actually interesting things to do and see. Ok, I was a faithful fan of Neighbours, and still had my little list of favourites, but we're talking minutes a day, not hours. It was only at home that I'd reaffix myself to the television. Seinfeld, Friends, Mad About You, ER . . .

Again, I left for more exotic locales (Korea), where TV watching detracted from living. It was when I came back six years ago that I finally clued in - The time I invest in watching TV is equal and opposite to the time I could be, um, living. Doing things. Interacting with three-dimensional people, who see me and feel me and can talk back directly to me. And I started to hate the TV.

I can live through the very rare show, on occasion. Monarch of the Glen, for example, the Osbornes, The Office (BBC version) . . . If I'm at someone else's house and it doesn't go on for too long. Otherwise, I'll vacate. I have a lot of more important things to do.

Too many memories with my sister involve "remember how we loved that 7-Up commercial?" "Remember when Frisco came back from the dead the third time?" "Remember how we used to get Tony to pick the lock on the television cord so we could plug it in when mom went to work and continue watching TV all day? Och, those were the days!"

So, yes, I missed TV Turnoff Week, isn't that a shame. It probably would have given me a sense of satisfaction to turn the sucker off. An official click. The funny thing is, I would have had to turn it on first.