My odd relationship with television...

I get a lot of funny looks when I admit I'm not following The Walking Dead, True Blood, American Horror Story, Warehouse 13 or any of the other popular shows on tv. In fact, I get weirder looks when I mention that all I watch is Burn Notice.

Now, from what I've seen of the above shows, they are probably all worthy of my time. It's just that the sad truth is that I have a problem with commitment to television shows.

I quit watching tv around the time I hit 15. Blame it on disinterest, short attention span, or what-have-you, but one day I decided I was done and that was it. From time to time, I'd find a show I liked well enough to watch it on a loyal basis and that was the only thing I watched. I once lived in a place for over two years without ever unpacking my tv.

My ability to commit to a television show works like this: I only follow one show at a time. I'm the type who will find a series years after the fact and watch the whole thing. I like for the entire series to be done before I start if it's something I think I'll be hooked on. In fact, I'm the same way about books. I don't like to start reading if I'm not going to be able to finish it. When in high school, I never obeyed the teacher's edicts to only read to a certain page. Nope. I'd have read the book 20 times by the time the rest of the class was done.

Short list of shows I actually committed to:
- Quantum Leap
- Highlander
- Star Trek: Enterprise
- Burn Notice

What's that, you say? Is that it?

Yes. Because I only listed shows that I followed while they were airing on television in their first runs.

Shows I viewed most or all of after the fact on video or DVD:
- Star Trek
- Star Trek: TNG
- Star Trek: DS9
- The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
- Hercules
- Legend of the Seeker

As you can see, I've missed out on quite a few worthy series. No Firefly, Stargate, etc. No Walking Dead. I'm sure I'll get around to them eventually, but right now my loyalty lays with Burn Notice. 13 more episodes under contract and then I'll have to find something else to watch.

I'm not a television snob and I'm not one of those who insists that television is bad for you. That would be lame. It just doesn't do much for me. Once in a while, something catches my attention and earns my loyalty.

I think The Walking Dead would have had me if it wasn't for my prior commitment to Burn Notice. It will get its chance eventually.

I shall leave you with this: for what I miss on tv, I make up for in movie viewing.