Why I won’t be watching Grey’s Anatomy this year
Some of you may remember that momentous post wherein I announced I was cured of chocolate. I haven’t had a lick of it since July 3, 2006. I may have to embroider myself a commemorative pillow.
Since then I’ve been tackling my other addictions, one by one: Tortilla chips. Frosted Raisin Bran (dry, on top of a napkin, usually spilling little flakes in the nooks of my computer keyboard). Peanut butter (that’s a tough one, since I was the only girl in my elementary school who had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every single day without variation. It’s part of me at a cellular level). Honey mustard pretzel bits. Chex Mix. A few other lovelies.
And now, Grey’s Anatomy.
It really hurt me not to be able to watch the season premier this week, but people, I need to work! For the past month or so I’ve been watching far more TV than ever before (including all the Grey’s Anatomy reruns, since I only got turned on to that show toward the end of last season), and it has to stop. My To Be Read pile is so huge it gives me a stomach ache every time I look at it. I’m starting a new novel right after I return from Barry’s book launch party next week, and I want to give that my full attention. I need to get back to the pleasure of reading and writing words on a page, and stop giving myself over to the passive pastime of letting TV do all the work.
So I decided the only way is not to get hooked again this season. Just completely remove the temptation. So until I finish this new novel, I’m limiting myself to Lost, Project Runway (but only until this season is over, then no more), and the occasional biography or science show on PBS. That’s it. Nothing more. No Scrubs, no What Not to Wear, no Oprah, no reality shows involving singing, dancing, cooking, or plastic surgery.
Yes, I know it’s mean. I know what I’m missing–don’t even try to tell me. The Grey’s Anatomy premier reran last night, and I had to purposely go out for Mongolian beef instead. Think of the sacrifice.
I promise myself that as soon as I finish my work, I can take a few weeks off and relax and watch so much TV my eyes cave in.
I’ll rent movies again and maybe rewatch all my Lord of the Rings DVDs and just have a grand old time.
But not until I type “The End.” Books don’t just write themselves, you know. Someone has to actually show up and do the work. And happily, that person is me.
But boy, I’m going to miss McDreamy.
Technorati Tags: Writing, Publishing, Books, Authors, Writers, Discipline, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Project Runway, TV, Television
wow–you are sooo strong. it’s different from getting hooked on “24″. at least with 24 you’re picking up life skills you can use everyday. with grey’s although i can see learning some basic diagnostic techniques, and even though i’m almost as smart as patrick, i would draw the line at actually performing open heart surgery. unless of course it involved my ct partner, being held hostage, with me, by the serbian/russian/columbian bioterrorist, drug cartel, whose heart gives out after two days of relentless torture. then i would have no choice but to crack his chest and extract and repair his heart, using the tiny saw that doubles as my bra’s underwire and a scapel cleverly disguised as my hair clip. (i was also subjected to two days of relentless torture, but unlike my partner, it only made me stronger).
the other thing with grey’s is, again unlike 24, i’m told it’s pretty fakey. i have a number of doctor friends, male and female, who uniformly report that during residency none of them had sex in a hospital utility closet. so it makes you wonder in what other ways they may be exaggerating.
That’s okay, they didn’t bring it for the season premier, anyway. Kinda flat and blah. Now, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on the other hand… that’s some finely crafted television right there!
Oh Aaron Sorkin, I love you.
Lizzie, please shut up. You’re the one who got me started on Project Runway. Don’t say another word about another program ever, please.
Sorry, Robin, but Studio 60 is, in fact, damn fine television. You really should watch it. I think Sorkin’s back on the ‘shrooms and coke because his writing SINGS.
You still havn’t rented Eddie Izzard’s Dress to Kill, have you?
The Science of Sleep was really good, too, but I’m not sure when it’s being released in your area.
Barry, shhhh. Do not tempt me.
Robin – I’m with you. I’m so glad that Rockstar: Supernova is over. It’s time to get to work and finish my current novel. Once I finish that, I can get to work chronicling my adventures with annette.
patrick, the world can’t wait. put that novel aside–herman melville be damned!–and IMMEDIATELY begin the “the amazing adventures of annette (and patrick) or pipi grows up (and patrick tags along)”.
seriously, given my new found penchant for incredibly trecherous undercover work there’s no telling how much longer i’ll be around to provide you with necessary technical assistance.
I watch a lot of television (Eureka, Smallville, American Idol, Deal or No Deal, Clean House, Dora The Explorer, Spongebob Squarepants, Cable news), but I can walk away from most of it. When my hub travels, I often skip tv for Microsoft Word.
But I can’t walk away from Battlestar Galactica on the sci-fi channel. I think it is the best program on television. I would love it even if it I wasn’t a sci-fi junkie. I’ve loaned the initial mini-series out so many times just to spread the word. Great story. Sympathetic characters. The show has made me a better writer.
Yeah, Heather, I know what you mean. That’s how I feel about Lost–I’ve learned so much about storytelling, I treat the show as homework, not just entertainment.
This is why I don’t have TV. If there are any new good shows on that tell me things about storytelling, they come out on DVD and I watch them then. For instance, I saw Studio 60 ages before you lot, since they put the pilot on Netflix. (Someone tell me they also noticed how so many scenes ended with amanda peet smiling vacantly into the distance?)
And Veronica Mars. Though I may cave and watch season 3 live, since I devoured those DVDs.
But it keeps me from getting caught up in the crap.
Smart idea, Diana.
Annette, the world will have to wait. I have a plan. Barry and Robin can confirm that it is a very good plan. First I must tell my tale of swords, girls and conquest.
Then I chronical our adventures. Once those hit bestseller I will stop with my swords, girls and conquest stories.
diana,
the dvd’s are my downfall. i could never have watched a certain very excellent series with a double-digit arabic number as its title on tv. i can’t stand the commercials.
now i have to move on to “lost” AND “battlestar galactica” and possibly “studio 60″ (please clarify, is it recommended crap, or no?). the alternative, i quess, is to get a real hobby–wait, no, i almost forget, commenting on robin’s blog is my real hobby.