I got a postcard in the mail saying my household has been chosen to do the Neilsen Ratings. Once upon a time, I would have loved this, but I almost never watch TV any more.

Now I feel obligated to start watching, so I can have my TV vote counted!

So help me out. What shows are good? (Network shows only, please, no cable channel shows.) Tell me what they're about.

Hmm.......the only tv I sit and watch, when the shows are on are...NCIS, Survivor, Amazing Race, sometimes Bachelor/Bachelorette and sometimes Dancing With The Stars.
Other than that, I don't watch much, well, unless Gordon Ramsey is on lol

Great start, Terri! Now what are these shows about? What does NCIS stand for? Is Survivor a reality show? How does Amazing Race ork?

I love PBS, especially Nova and the History Detectives, The new archeology show is good too, but I can't think of the name right now.

Turn-offs are cheesy "reality" shows and amateur shows where the "stars" delight in putting other people down. Enough already!

NCIS is more or less a cop show, for lack of a better word. It's Naval Criminal Investigative Service is what it stands for. It's a show about the NCIS agents getting the bad guys.
The rest of the shows are reality shows.

I'll watch some cooking shows, mainly for the noise, but those are cable channels. Not much here on the pebble that isn't cable.

I say tell them you don't watch TV and let them have someone else do it. Don't start watching it!! :wink:

Karla! You do come up with great ideas!
I told hubby that we really only need a tv that works for about 3 hours a day because that's about all it's used for. He listens to CNN or Fox News in the mornings and I usually have it on for noise in the house.

I wouldn't worry about it either, we watch alot of reruns right now but never ever a reality show i have enough reality in my own life to be worried about watching someone elses.

I like some shows, and some of them are reality shows.
Amazing Race is good and I like Survivor also
I also watch grey's anatomy, good show
I am a big PBS fan also
There is still great shows on Television, you just have to search for them

Neilsen Ratings is a pain in the butt to do. It hasn't changed since my grandmother did the rating one time back in the 60's. You have to fill in every hour of 24 hours for two weeks and I think you get something like $3. And most cable channels aren't listed so you have to write those in and looking up what channel is named what. I would say no thanks and save a headache. They will pester you if you sign up and don't follow through.

Oh, Please put in a plug for the ABC show CASTLE.

ABC describes as,

"Castle is a 1 hour witty drama based on a famous crime and horror novelist who helps the NYPD homicide department solve crimes. Castle is inspired by shows like “Rockford Files” & “Moonlighting” that are lighthearted with romantic tension and unlike the dark procedurals prevalent today Castle invites the viewer to invest in the relationship of two people having fun together and engaging in witty banter."

I agree with Karla. Why start watching it if you don't really care for it anyway.

Just send it back to them and reply that you don't watch TV as well. They need to know that some people just don't enjoy it at all.

It is interesting to me that "we" can't come up with many shows anyone really likes. It tells you something about television, doesn't it? (Or, maybe it says we would rather be sewing.......)

I did the neilson shopping one for a few years then I missed one week and they pulled it.....I did as I was told sent in a vacation but oh well it was a hassle.
I havent had "tv" for 2 years. I have one and a dvd player and watch movies for noise while sewing or cleaning. I dont miss it one bit.

I vote for if you dont watch tell them you dont and say Thanks but no Thanks.

I like watching tv. I think television is great. I am fascinated to see what is happening thousands of miles away as it happens. Watching the space ship launch and land, how can you not be in awe seeing that? The History and Discovery channel, Food Network, HGTV, Classic Movie, National Geographic, The Learning Channel, and the hard hitting news channels that has exposed me to new and different view points.

I like The Closer and Saving Grace. House, Criminal Minds, Monk and Psych. Numbers, Leverage, Southland, and for sitcoms I like The Office, Big Bang Theory the best. The grittier shows like Dexter, Weeds, Nurse Betty and True Blood have very unbelievable story lines but keeps things interesting! I have one or two shows a night I watch and Nick at Nite is always a stand by if nothing else is on. I do a lot of handwork watching tv.

OH Terri, we love Hells Kitchen here. We DVR it and my DD and I pick our time to watch it together. What fun.

Hell's Kitchen will make you not want to eat out ever again. Do you see all that sweat dripping into the food? Same with Iron Chef! LOL

A few of my favorites:

Big Bang Theory (CBS) - the show concerns two male Caltech prodigies in their twenties, one an experimental physicist (Leonard) and the other a theoretical physicist (Sheldon), who live across the hall from an attractive blonde waitress with show-biz aspirations (Penny).

Burn Notice (USA) - ex-CIA spy living in Miami. Bruce Campbell.

Leverage (TNT) - Leverage follows a five-person team of thieves, computer experts and con artists, headed up by former insurance investigator Nate Ford, who use their skills to right corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on common citizens.

Warehouse 13 (scyfy) - The series follows United States Secret Service agents Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) and Peter Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) as they are reassigned to the government's secret Warehouse 13, which houses supernatural objects.
**quirky & cute.


I have to look at my dvr to see what else we recording at the moment.

Is this one of the series with that Gordon Ramsay fellow? Man, is he foul-mouthed. He would make a platoon of Marines blush....

I'm not going to refuse to do it, because I want to do it! And doing it gives me a reason to get back into watching TV again (and maybe getting some exercise done while I'm watching, which I can't do while typing away on the computer).

I don't have cable, so cable channels will not be an issue for me. And I'd like them to know that network TV still has viewers. When I do have cable, I usually only watch HGTV on it anyway.

I go on jags where I watch TV, though in recent years that has mostly been American Idol, Biggest Loser and 20/20. Love Medium, though it's too graphic with the violence for my taste. Love cop shows, too, but it depends on the characters.

Thanks to those of you who took the time to describe shows to me. I hate trying to figure out what the premise of a show is if I miss the pilot episode. I mean, I can figure out that a cop show is a cop show, but not what makes it different from all the other cop shows.

It's also fun to see what you all like to watch.

I did it for 1 or 2 weeks a couple of years ago. I don't watch much tv either. I just wrote down the few I do watch. In the comment section, I put better shows might prompt more watching, but I wouldn't count on it. I also wrote I'd like to see more quilting/craft shows. Seems like those are a disappearing breed.

I like to watch PBS because it has sewing shows on like Quilt in A Day

I get Hell's Kitchen once in a while. All depends on if the network here is working. With the lines and all, phone/cable and power goes out quite often. Plus, I mostly forget when it's on. Hubby comes home after 6pm, so once Courtney and I are done with dinner (he usually eats on the ship), we spend time on the balcony just chit chatting. I'll usually go into my sewing room and reappear once I have something done to show so I can get the "oohs and ahhs".
I do have a tv in my sewing room, but it's hard to watch a show when you are trying to sew. I mainly have it for the noise factor.

I love Gordon Ramsey. Yes, his mannerism isn't quite there, but love his recipes and his shows.

Bellaboo...ever work in a restaurant?

DH & I watch network news & PBS news most nights. We enjoy a lot of PBS shows. I like Grey's Anatomy, Fringe & The Mentalist - I DVR them so I can ditch the ads. Someone made Castle sound interesting. I DVR quilting shows, and I watch them while I'm doing my daily 20 minutes on my NordicTrak.

DH is the cook - chef - in our house, so he watches fome of the cooking shows.

We use our TV more with our DVD player than for TV shows. We love movies and subscribe to Netflix, so we use our DVD player a lot. We watch Netflix stuff that's NOT movies, too. This year we've gone through a bunch of old BBC series - , Inspector Morse, Monarch of the Glen, Ballykissangel, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python - all available from Netflix. Currently, we're going through the British serish, Atlas of the World.

i've gotten those. i just ignore them. i think they pull results out of a hat, anyway.

I watch a LOT of PBS as I get 3 different channels here... :D :D :D

This is what I do. We don't watch tv in our home, don't have cable so can't if we wanted to. We are on some list and get calls all the time about TV shows or movies and such. I just tell them I don't watch TV and only go to the theater for a movie maybe once a year, if even.

I don't watch any reality shows. I never miss NCIS and House (I record them on DVR and watch when I have time). I also like Mental.