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Watching TV for 24 hrs straight

 
  

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El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
23:46 / 22.05.04
For my newspaper's annual Leisure section, I'm
going to watch TV for 24 hours straight starting
this Wednesday at 8 AM. I'll be keeping a diary
about my observations, general demeanor and well-
being.

I have some 180 channels, including HBO, but no
other premium channels -- like Cinemax -- to
speak of.

To make things interesting, there will be rules.
I'll tell you the ones I thought of, but any
suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.

1. NO MOVIES. This is about TV.

2. ONE HOUR PER CHANNEL. This is about surfing,
so only one more than 60 consecutive minutes in
one place.

3. LIMITED BREAKS. Only six bathroom breaks, one
every four hours, of no more than 5 minutes
each. Food will either have to be prepared in
advance or delivered -- either by friends or
take out.

(please forgive the cross-post)
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
23:52 / 22.05.04

forgot one...

4. NO INTERNET. This is about TV.
 
 
w1rebaby
00:05 / 23.05.04
60 consecutive minutes? I'd say 30. TV's not meant to be watched for an hour solid.l
 
 
Saint Keggers
01:04 / 23.05.04
5. AT EVERY COMMERCIAL chug a beer. Chug 2 beers if its a beer commercial.
 
 
w1rebaby
03:29 / 23.05.04
Dude, that's not going to work - he'd be paralysed within an hour. Half an hour if he watches bull riding.
 
 
XXII:X:II = XXX
03:55 / 23.05.04
Is this like the gorging diametric opposite of TV Turnoff Week? Because you may purge after that binge and swear off the stuff altogether afterwards. Seems a waste with that lovely cable. Precious, precioussss cables...

/+,
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
04:06 / 23.05.04

I'll not be drinking. It's for work. I appreciate any suggestions you've got however.
 
 
espy
05:35 / 23.05.04
Haven't you seen 24? After every season they do a full day of all 24 episodes of the show...which title is 24. It happens in real time. Wait for that?
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
13:11 / 23.05.04
I'd like to make some observations about television in general. At first, I thought of watching one whole season of the Sopranos, but seemed more interesting.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
14:18 / 23.05.04
If you leave the TV for five minutes, do you have to make that time up at the end?
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
14:52 / 23.05.04
Thats not a bad suggestion. It seems sadistic, but if I am to watch 24 hours that's technically the right thing to do.
 
 
Opps!!
16:19 / 23.05.04
I say you change channels at every commercial break
 
 
Smoothly
18:22 / 23.05.04
Pfft. Big deal. So you're going to watch TV all day. Where I come from that's called university.
 
 
Char Aina
18:26 / 23.05.04
i reckon sjhrbr has a point.
you should change channel fairly often.
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
18:28 / 23.05.04
You may have a point about changing the channel, but I'm not sure why. Is it just to keep me moving, alert, what?
 
 
w1rebaby
18:39 / 23.05.04
Well, what is the point of the enterprise in the first place?

I mean, are you trying to find out what's actually on at different times, are you seeing if TV can actually entertain you for 24 hours, are you trying to get a representative sample of everything broadcast...
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
18:53 / 23.05.04
Hang on - your newspaper has an *annual* leisure section? Like, once a year. What is it, Calvinist Weekly?
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
20:00 / 23.05.04

Well, I'm not sure exactly what the purpose is. I figured all of the above -- just to write down my observations, and hopefully reveal in the process something about pop culture and human endurance.
 
 
Bed Head
22:00 / 23.05.04
Human endurance? You’re kidding, right?

Dude, it’s not nearly sadistic enough. Or far-out enough. Or anything enough. There’s nothing amazing about watching tv for 24 hours, people do it all the time. The only slightly unusual thing about this is you’re imposing some wacky - and unhealthy - toilet rules. If you’re looking to discover some perception-warping ‘effects’ of being subjected to unbroken 24 hours of TV, you should fix up some kind of tv-wearing helmet so it’s in front of your face even when you go to the toilet, you literally can’t escape it; and then set it to automatically change to a randomly-chosen channel, every three minutes on the dot. That might possibly stretch your perceptions just a little, and lead to some interesting insights. Otherwise, you’re just watching your favourite programs for slightly longer than usual, man. It’s going to be a stronger test of your bladder than your sanity, and certainly not an exciting adventure in altered states. And while I’m saying it, what’s the big deal about 24 hours? Anyone can stay awake and focussed for 24 hours without any kind of major effort. Okay, maybe a whole 48 hours would require some artificial stimulants, but split the difference, make it 36 and at least it’ll be an achievement of some kind to have kept your eyes open.


There’s no story here worthy of being written down. Seriously: Tie a tv to your face, somehow. Set the channel to randomly change. Make it 36 hours. And record your observations with a microphone taped to your throat. I’m sure the readers of your newspaper will find a transcription of your mental deterioration to be briefly amusing, as they make their way to the sports section.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
22:53 / 23.05.04
I'm not sure Calvinist Weekly has a sports section. Just a paragraph on the back page saying "All sporting events were resolved according to God's will, and according to the predestined plan He set out on the first day of creation".

I mainly buy it for the problem page.
 
 
w1rebaby
23:13 / 23.05.04
I find watching US TV for *four* hours to be a test of endurance - I mean, actually watching it, rather than just having it on in the background.

One adverse event I've recently encountered is overdosing on CNN. I was at a conference last week and I had nothing to do for a lot of the time, so I watched a lot of CNN. CNN is not meant to be watched for more than twenty minutes max. It really does fuck with your head. My reaction was basically disorientation and apathy; I started to live in a world where the only entities were me, Lynndie England and statistics software, and in self-defence my brain began to reject the two latter things as having no importance at all.

In fact, most channels are not meant to be watched for more than about twenty minutes, so maybe if you're going for endurance you *shouldn't* change channels. If you're of a newsy bent you could consider just switching between news programs, which have the advantage of being 24 hour anyway - see what a blend of BBC America, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX News etc does to you, and what you think of the world afterwards.
 
 
the cat's iao
01:12 / 24.05.04
You should try to watch several TVs at once for the 24 hours (borrow them from family, friends, and co-workers for the day)--like maybe ten or fifteen. And channel surf all of them; however, at least one TV ought to always be on some sort of news, another on some sort of religious program, and yet another on either a paid commercial or shopping network. Call any 1-800 numbers for more information, so keep a telephone handy. Operators are standing by.
 
 
pony
02:08 / 24.05.04
thinking about this from a theoretical reader's perspective, i'd have to agree with bedhead's suggestion, at least the switching every three minutes part and the 36 hours part. i also think you should have tvs in both the bathroom and kitchen (and anywhere else you might be), and those would also have to be switched everythree minutes when you're around them. out of all the suggested situations, this is what i'd most like to read about.
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
10:48 / 24.05.04
There's something appealing about rapid and regular switching, I think I'd be less able to record my ovservations about what's on television, but more the effect of the switching on my psyche and well-being -- ie: I'd be going fucking bonkers very quickly.
 
 
Lionheart
14:20 / 24.05.04
What if you find a good movie on that lasts for 2 hours?
 
 
Alex's Grandma
19:33 / 24.05.04
Contrary to what's been said elewhere on this thread, 24 hours of uncut television is not an easy ride. I did this a while ago, pre-cable ( back when it was man's life in the army, etc ) and two or three hours of Australian motorcross at Four in the morning, because there's nothing else on, is not funny. For maximum sensory deprivation, I'd recommend starting at about midnight on Saturday, having been out in the pub, and taking it from there. By about Six pm on Sunday, you'll feel like the last man alive, and there'll still be six hours to go. At that point anyway, in my personal experiment, I was pretty much choked up with tears of gratitude when Shaun Ryder showed up on Juke Box Jury, and this after literally fifteen solid hours of utter drek. So while I appreciate your stance on the no-alcohol front, I think your bathroom schedule probably belongs in... a seperate experiment, and that whether or not you normally smoke pot, you should possibly think about getting some in for those strange dark hours towards the end.

For maximum horror buzz, if you're in the UK, I'd suggest not resorting to satellite channels, just staying strictly terrestrial. And I wouldn't do this on my own either, if I were you. Worse things happen at sea and so on, but at the end of this, on the other hand, if you don't have someone to slag off the shows with, you will feel pretty low.

Still, it's a noble and interesting and ultimately pointless experiment, so, good luck !

I
 
 
Olulabelle
19:39 / 24.05.04
For maximum horror buzz, if you're in the UK, I'd suggest not resorting to satellite channels, just staying strictly terrestrial.

Alex, I think you're underestimating the joy that is Open University programming.
 
 
Bed Head
21:54 / 24.05.04
I’d be interested to know how 24 hours of uninterrupted Open University programmes would evolve your consciousness. I’d read that article. That’s if you could still be bothered to write it after undergoing an OU-induced ascent into hyperawareness.


There’s probably a really obvious gag about Calvinists just waiting to be made there, but I’m not capable of seeing it.
 
 
Triplets
22:09 / 24.05.04
Is this thread about Videodrome? Because it should be
 
 
Olulabelle
22:17 / 24.05.04
I'm sorry. I must be seriously sad but I love Open University programming. I could quite happily watch 24 hours of it in one sitting.

Of course it could all just be down to my rather strong beard fetish and nothing to do with the content of the programmes at all.
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
21:29 / 25.05.04
Alright, the experiment is a go tomorrow, Wednesday, at 8AM eastern time. Get in any last suggestions.

Thanks for all of the support.
 
 
XXII:X:II = XXX
06:36 / 26.05.04
I'll not be drinking. It's for work. I appreciate any suggestions you've got however.

Silly cat, I was speaking about the other addictive, mind-numbing vice you'll be indulging in: TV.

Zodspeed you, suh.

/+,
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
09:57 / 26.05.04
I was refering to the gentleman who suggested I do shots.

Now, good day to you, suh.

I said good day!
 
 
the cat's iao
03:18 / 27.05.04
^^^
Hey! Aren't you supposed to be watching TV???
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
11:02 / 27.05.04
SUCCESS!!!

Now I'm going right to the fucking bed for some shut eye.
 
  

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