Social Networks

A weird thought struck me today:  lately when it comes to my entertainment choices of video games and TV, watching TV tends to be the more social of the two.  I have to admit this strikes me as odd.  One of the reasons I enjoy video games is due to the social nature of many of them.

Part of the reason for this may be that the current game I’m invested in is single player only: there is no other interaction with a human being.  Another big part of the reason is a new baby in the house.  At the end of the day, watching TV is the easiest thing to do to relax.

But I think it’s more than both of those things.  Instead, due in part to the internet and in part to quality programs, TV has become something we can commonly connect about.  You don’t need to cable (though soon you’ll need a converter box) to watch Lost, Heroes, 24, Chuck, and a number of other shows.  And if you don’t have cable, you can catch shows like Burn Notice and Battlestar Galactica online through the network’s websites of Hulu.

That’s one way in which the internet has been responsible for the connection through TV: television is moving off of our televisions.  I don’t even need a DVR to catch up on shows I missed for the week. (Though in the case of House it would be nice since episodes don’t go online until the next episode airs.  Fox, this is very annoying in the case of two part season finales!)  Plus in comment sections beneath those shows, blogs like this one, and message boards, we can share our thoughts.

Pair that up with quality programming.  It seems to me there are a lot of shows on TV that require you to talk about them if you watch them.  If you can watch Lost without feeling the need to find someone else who watches and ask them what in the world they thought happened last week, I shed a tear for you.

All this to say I missed (but taped) House and Fringe last night.  My wife went out to hang out with a friend, and it’s our Tuesday night tradition to watch those shows together.  I suppose I could’ve watched them myself while taping them for her and just let her catch up later, but it’s just not the same.  It’s the same way that if I miss Monday night with the guys, I have a hard time watching Chuck and Heroes online.  It’s partially because I have other stuff I need to get done, but it’s also because it’s just not the same watching with the gang.

So what do you think?  Do you find TV to be a social experience or am I just crazy and we all just stare at the tube and go on with our lives?  And if you do find it to be a social experience, which show do you have the most discussion about?

The top of my discussion list is Lost.  If you haven’t seen this trailer/Fray music video, please enjoy.  And thanks to Kristin Dos Santos over at “Watch with Kristin” for posting it.