"I was raised in front of the TV and I turned out TV"

If you don't know, the title comes from a quote by Homer Simpson.

On June 1, I made a rule that I would stop watching TV until August 31. That date is rapidly approaching. I gave myself allowances though: DVDs of television shows, movies, and "events" like Mariners games.

Truth be told I've done fairly well. I bet that I've broken my own rules for a grand total of about 3 hours over the entire summer. That 3 hours consisted of a few Simpsons and South Park reruns, 15 minutes of Robot Chicken, and two House Hunters, which fried my brain more than any show I've seen in a long time. It was the same brain fry I used to get in college when I'd watch 3 episodes of Friends back to back, but a lot quicker.

Considering it's almost three months later, an hour of "unrestricted" television viewing per month isn't so bad.

But I have been going through some good television shows on DVD. The reason I have allowed myself DVD shows is that it's hard to waste away the night with them like it is watching TV straight. And they're new. It's not like watching a Simpsons I've seen 6 times already.

So this summer my TV diet has consisted entirely of Rome (I'm nearly done with Season 1) and Battlestar Galactica (I'm on Disc 2 of Season 2.0). Enough people have told me it's good I had to investigate it, and it turns out they were right. It is first-rate television, and I'm not afraid to say it, no matter how nerdy it makes me.

So what does it mean for the fall? Will I continue my television ban?

Heck no! The truth is, television right now is in a crazy good Golden Age. In many ways, TV is putting movies to shame, which can only produce sequels and adaptations.

So I'm going to watch a lot of TV this upcoming year. But it's going to be good TV. Lost, The Office, Scrubs, 30 Rock, new Simpsons, new South Parks. The opening monologues of Daily Shows and Colbert sprinkled in ... And I'll keep doing the DVD thing with Rome, Battlestar Galactica, and I'll probably do Heroes and The Wire by DVD, too, which are both supposed to be very good.

But it's TiVo that has made this possible. TiVo actually keeps me from watching too much TV, which seems counter-intuitive.

I don't see commercials for other TV shows anymore. I don't channel surf looking for something to watch, I choose what I want to watch from a list with descriptions of each episode. TiVo just makes sure that there's something good there. Also, every show is 1/4 to a 1/3 shorter than it would be with TV.

This fall, when I start watching more TV again, I'll watch only the good stuff and skip the garbage. If I miss a show, I'll rent the first season on DVD and catch up on Season 2 when it starts (my current plan for Heroes).

TV is great, but a summer without it has been even better.