Social TV

I don't know about anyone else (although I can probably guess), but I think it's great that television has become a social activity. I guess to a certain extent, it's always been that way. I mean, it's not uncommon to watch a show with someone else and some families do it quite a bit. But with shows that have developed a real following, television viewing has moved outside of people's individual homes and families: now, we have viewing parties.

This was the case last night as our group congregated for dinner and American Idol. After what seemed like a million emails to work out the details, it was finally decided we'd be having a sandwich bar and waiting for Tina to finish her run before beginning the festivities (making the rest of us look like lazy slobs because all we wanted to do was eat and watch TV :) ). American Idol is really the perfect show for such a party. You get to comment on everything that's happening and debate the results with friends. You can also laugh at the terrible performances and rag on Paula for her nonsensical, rambling critiques.

I'll be honest...I'm not a huge Idol fan. I watch it because two years ago, Erik suddenly decided he wanted to watch more than just the auditions. I'm not saying I don't enjoy it or the performers. I do have David Cook on my iPod after all. But if Erik ends up working on Idol night, I usually find something else to do. Watching it with a bunch of friends, however, makes it worth it to me...even though I will now never be able to watch Anoop without thinking of Apu:

While we didn't stay, some people also watched the latest episode of Lost. With all I've heard and the little I've seen, I decided the see what all the fuss is about. After borrowing the first season forever ago, I finlly popped in the the first episode when we got home last night. And I have to say, I'm intrigued. What is the big "animal" living in the jungle? What's with the solitary bald guy? He's important, I'm sure, but how long until I find out why. If "at least 48" people survived the crash, am I really going to have to keep track of that many story lines? Or are they going to quickly kill off several? I don't know that I can keep 48 people straight. Maybe by next season, I'll be up to speed and ready to join in the speculation...

I think what's happened is viewing parties have become the book clubs of the 21st century. Instead of taking a month to read a book and then meeting to discuss, you get a weekly chance to do it, and you get immediate reactions to what's happening, which is kind of fun. Plus, there's always the anticipation leading up to the next week...or like with American Idol, tonight when we see who's dream is over...