A Year Without Cable, Week 5: The Easiest Time

I’m not big on basketball (too many games) or reality TV (sorry, Bachelorette), so cable TV doesn’t have a whole lot to offer me right now; well, save for 24, which continues to be magnificent. Most popular shows have wrapped up, leaving the bottom-of-the-barrel material to fill in the gaps.

A big part of that is probably due to the weather, which is getting nicer. TV networks tend to dial back on the quality of programming once spring and summer roll around, opting for a lot of reruns and cheap to produce reality fare. It’s smart — after all, the days are longer and people are spending more time outside. The odds of someone being in front of the TV at 8pm aren’t as great in May, June, July and August.

If you’ve cut the cable cord, this time of year will really make you feel that you made a smart decision.

Well, unless you’re a big fan of shows like Dancing with the Stars. Then cutting the cord might be killing you.

For me, not having any new shows to watch on my Apple TV will force me to start using my Netflix subscription a bit more. And not having the ability to veg out and mindlessly channel surf will force me to find entertainment elsewhere; for instance, outside, or in a book, or in a video game.

I have a feeling that the next two or three months will be the easiest period of time in my whole cord-cutting experiment, because I’m not really going to miss cable TV. Nothing (again, besides 24) that I watch is on, and what is on makes me weep for humanity and even innocent pets who can’t nap without the voice of Tom Bergeron ringing in their ears.

We’ll see how I do once the NFL returns in September.