Put down the remote control and back away slowly

That's right, kids ... it's TV Turnoff Week! From today through Sunday, you aren't supposed to watch any television. At all. No, not even the American Idol elimination round, or whatever it is called. No, you're not supposed to TiVo all the shows you normally watch and watch twice as much TV next week.

According to Nielsen, the average American watches four hours of television every single day. Kids between the ages of 2 and 17 will watch an average of 19 hours per week, while babies under 2 will watch six hours per week. Forty percent of us keep the TV on while we're eating dinner. Fifty percent of us have three or more TV sets in our homes.

I know several people at both extremes of the TV-watching spectrum. My household of three watches a maximum of six hours per week of television time on our single set, more typically two or three hours, often none at all. (American Idol is part of that right now, thanks to the crazed fan who lives in our household, but I spend that hour hiding in my room with a book or complaining bitterly from the kitchen.) Usually, the entirety of our TV usage is catching up on Netflix goodness.

A local friend lives in a studio apartment with two rooms, and there is a TV set in each room. One TV is always on, whether or not he is watching, for background noise. He usually falls asleep with it blaring away. A friend who lives farther away recently admitted that his family of three watches 50 to 60 hours of TV shows per week, often recording one show while watching another, then catching up. His 1-year-old daughter watches a couple hours a day. They have absolutely no other hobbies. They consider TV time to be family time.

I can't believe there are that many good shows on. I can't watch sitcoms anymore. The inanity and incessant laugh track and commercial breaks just irritate me far beyond any enjoyment I might feel from watching a show. I download Lost on iTunes (and counted that in our TV watching) because that $1.99 is absolutely worth watching the show with no commercials. Other than that, what else is on? Then again, we also gave up cable and satellite because we found ourselves watching repeat episodes of Iron Chef out of desperation to get our money's worth. So what is everyone watching that is worth giving up that many hours of their lives? Seriously, aren't there better things to do?

Besides, the weather in Corvallis is as beautiful as it ever gets. How often do the forecasters use the word "delightful" to describe the upcoming weather? So go outside! Enjoy a week without the idiot box.