Remember how you always say that you’ll finish Finnegan’s Wake as soon as you get some spare time, and then start reading Ulysses and the complete works of Proust? Yeah, well now you’re running out of excuses, as is the rest of America. The Hollywood Reporter published a survey today that says 25% of Americans plan to read a book or a magazine once their favorite shows stop coming on television thanks to the writers’ strike, which for some has already begun to happen (RIP, The Office).
Now, that’s not to say that these people won’t be reading the latest People or some chick lit with a pink cover and pictures of shoes. That’s also not to say they’re just lying, either to the survey conductors or just to themselves. We’d all like to think that we’d rather read a book than watch the crap they’re going to start putting on television, but then again, who hasn’t been sucked in by the sublime weirdness of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?. 13% of respondents, after all, straight up admitted they’d watch whatever else they found on TV.
About equal numbers of people said they’d watch DVDs (12%), and less than 10% said they would spend more time on the Internet (possibly catching up on old episodes in a way that pays the writers nothing), listening to music, playing sports or various other activities. And a measly 2% said they would go to the movies, which is really a shame given there’s a lot worth seeing out there right now. No word on how many people planned on making more home-cooked meals, spending more time with loved ones or getting outdoors more, but hey, isn’t that what television is supposed to have saved us from having to do anyway?
Good news for the networks, though: 73% said they would go back to watching their favorite shows once they came back. I mean, how can they not? The writers’ strike has essentially caused the largest cliffhanger in TV history, and we haven’t even seen that crazy eighth episode of Lost that Damon Lindelof promised would infuriate us while blowing our minds.
I for one am not sure what I’ll do with myself when How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock depart the airwaves, though I’m glad to have Project Runway to keep me company during this dark time. I expect, unlike most Americans, to spend a lot of time scrambling for something to write about for TV Blend now that I can’t write recaps anymore, and avoiding watching American Idol if at all possible. Personally I’ll just be working on talking everyone else into going to the movies-- the extra $11 is worth the dignity you’ll save yourself by not watching America’s Next Hottest Cop or whatever else they throw at us.
