[Eric Paddon]

I am a compulsive buyer of TV on DVD because I like to try things on a blind buy now and then. Twice, I have realized I made a giant mistake in doing that. The first was with "Murphy Brown" where I wrongly thought it's first season from 1988 would be less political than it became in later years. Wrong! It was so in-your-face obnoxious that I finally had enough and threw the set away, figuring why should I stick with this.

I also tried to get into X-Files when the season sets were discounted and bought several seasons on blind buys. Other big mistake as I found the show deadly dull and devoid of any real suspense because if you run into the supernatural *every* week then frankly you can't possibly generate terror or mystery because you're stuck in a rut. But ironically, what finally made me decide after going through 1.25 seasons worth that it wasn't worth going further was when I started watching more episodes of the old "FBI" series with Efrem Zimbalist (which I have become hooked to), and I realized that the thing I couldn't stand most about "X-Files" was its total lack of authenticity regarding the FBI and FBI procedure.

So to bring this back to the question of the thread, I did something about it and I'm auctioning those DVD sets off on e-bay if anyone wants them (they've got bonus discs!). The upshot is one should *not* watch a show that they find a tedious chore to get through and if they think there's an obligation to do it just because the video's on the shelf. If you're not liking it, don't watch it and get rid of the video.

An unmentionable show I treat differently, because there is an element of evaluation one day I would like to do based on marathon viewing, which I view more in the context of a research project like I've done with movies I know I hate. That *general* reason, is I think the only legitimate one one has for watching something they don't like, if there is a broader research goal behind it.