"Rome"

I made a rule for myself last week that I wouldn't want television from June 1 through August 31. Of course I made plenty of exceptions:

Mariners Games
Debates, or other big events
and DVDs

The main thing was to stop myself from getting sucked in to the many many reruns of Scrubs, Simpsons, and South Park that inhabit my TiVo. I will certainly miss Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, but I think it's going to be a better summer without all that.

Why DVDs though? Well, because part of the problem with television watching is how easy it is to just keep watching. One Scrubs to another and then a few South Parks and suddenly a evening is wasted.

But DVDs are more active--at least as active as sitting on a couch can be. They have a start and an end, and you're not watching a Seinfeld you've seen three times before so it's a little more active mentally speaking.

So with that in mind, I decided to try out HBO's "Rome" on DVD. 2 episodes in so far, and it's surprisingly good. It feels like a pretty realistic picture of the time and the characters are well drawn.

I find it's certainly reassuring about the time we live now. Ancient Rome sucked whether you were a slave, a plebe, or a noble. But that doesn't mean it's not good television.