…Or is it just that what one person likes, another person loathes?

I noticed that there’s a general discussion in our forums at the moment about the distinct lack of anything worth watching on telly. So why is it with hundreds of channels playing 24/7 that we can’t find anything to watch?

Is it that we’re spoiled for choice or is it that in order to fill those hours, the channels fill their time slots with dross?

During research for my Odd Programme of the Week articles, I’ve certainly found that there are some incredibly stupid and vacuous programmes on telly; for instance there’s Sunset Tan, about the goings on in a tanning salon. Who cares?? Can there be anything happening in a tanning salon that’s worth spending half an hour or more of your life on? I think not but someone, somewhere must watch it or it’d surely be cancelled?

Then, one night this week, I foolishly allowed my husband to have control of the remote – a thing that almost never happens – and ended up watching a documentary on National Geographic about a giant pig. The programme was about the search for the ‘truth’ regarding a pig nicknamed ‘Hogzilla’. The show’s makers even went to the effort of digging up the corpse – using earth movers and dozens of men – of said Hogzilla to disprove the claims of the man who found him that he was the world’s biggest hog. Again, that’s an hour of my life that I’ll never get back.

But is it really true that there’s just nothing on? Well that probably depends largely on what floats your boat, telly-wise. The thing with telly programmes is, what one person loves makes another want to claw their own eyes out. My husband just loves those kinds of totally random and seemingly pointless documentaries but I’d rather impale myself or worse, spend time with David Cameron. My beloved, on the other hand, loathes the soaps with a passion and won’t stay in the same room if they’re on while I find them compulsive viewing.

That said, if he does accidentally watch for a moment or two, he starts asking questions which drives me insane. For instance, here’s a typical scenario; he’ll say, “I thought he dumped her?” and I’ll say, “Well, he did, yeah, but he’s taken her back now ‘cos she’s actually sleeping with his brother” then he’ll say, “So why doesn’t he boot her out then?” and I’ll reply, “Because he wants proof”… you get the gist. Now this drives me nuts because a) he’s not going to sit and watch it so why ask and b) I’ve now missed several minutes of what’s going on.

Alternatively, when he’s watching a documentary that’s about how buttons are made or how long it takes wallpaper paste to dry on a molecular level, he’ll try to involve me by saying things like, “Wow, did you see that?” or, “Isn’t that amazing?” to which I usually reply with nothing more than a stony stare until he shuts up and stops bothering me.

Never the twain shall meet with he and I and we’ve mutually agreed that as I am in fact the boss of everything, my will shall be done and he tends to skulk around watching boring stuff on the net in another room while I watch my soaps and other interesting shows. When I allow him to watch TV, he knows it’s a privilege, not a right.

He also thinks reality TV shows are a living death but I rarely miss my favourites such as X Factor and I’m A Celeb and most importantly, Big Brother. I barely see him over the summer and we generally only cross paths in ad breaks.

So, do you have a similar ongoing battle in your house? Would you rather watch the foundations of your house settle than look at a documentary about plankton or does your other half complain about what are your favourite TV shows? Let us know how you resolve these televisual differences!