I don't believe it as Kirstie and Phil fail to deliver

[northumbrian_k]

Our evenings are now nearly always spent watching the television but it is getting harder to find something that my wife can enjoy. Dramas and thrillers she tends to take seriously as if they are factual. She likes quizzes and still correctly answers a surprising number of sometimes obscure questions. Stories strung out over several episodes are confusing because she can't remember that she saw the previous episode, never mind what happened in the plot. She has no interest in soaps or reality TV. Programmes on commercial channels are a problem due to the ad breaks and are best recorded so that the breaks can be skipped through. Comedies (Dad's Army and Frasier for example) and some documentaries are better.

She used to like some of the property finding programmes such as A Place in the Sun. But last night we had to stop watching Location, Location, Location because she said that she did not like the area (Bromley), was happy living in our house and did not see why we should have to move. Somehow the fact that other couples were looking for new places to live had got confused in her mind so that she thought it was us who had to move and this caused distress.

In the end it was up to Victor Meldrew to save the day, even if we have seen all of the episodes many times over and have the complete box set. Even then she could not sit still long enough to watch the whole programme.

 

[Grannie G]

I bought Dad`s Army and Only Fools and Horses DVD`s and we played them daily and laughed every time.

Some television programmes became reality. Come Dine with me was often a bit course and my husband didn't want to eat with them but preferred it if the two of us ate together.

It`s a bit like being a hamster on the wheel. The routine and repetition is so important for security.

 

[marionq]

The hardest thing is to watch my husband trying to make sense of a football match. He loved his club so much and followed them with his six brothers for his whole life and now I know more than he does about what’s going on. He is indifferent to anything else on TV but fortunately still likes to look through his football magazines and the daily paper.

 

[maryjoan]

Dad's Army is a life saver at this house, he chuckles the way through that. And for such a 'correct' man whom I have never heard swear or utter a coarse comment - he loves 'Mrs Brown's Boys' - can you credit it?

I notice that Darts is back on this afternoon, that can be on for hours and hours, and snooker will be along again soon - I can get some interest myself in snooker, but cricket is like watching paint dry - but if it makes our PWD happy - then there we are!!

 

[LynneMcV]

I do feel for you - watching tv became quite an issue for us over time.

My husband loved to watch sport but I had to avoid football, cricket and tennis for about 18 months because he would grow so distressed, thinking he had to play any moment and he would let everyone down because he hadn't trained and hadn't brought his sports kit.

Quiz shows were great for a few years but then I had to keep those off the screen too because he was convinced he had won the prize - and then he'd turn on me because he thought I was stopping him from collecting it.

Adverts were a nightmare - anything to do with PPI, a chance to win a car or a holiday - he was due them all and I was just the 'big, bad, ugly' keeping him from claiming what was rightfully his. Likewise adverts asking for charity donations would send him spiralling out of control because he thought he was personally responsible for dying children, famine, drought and homelessness.

Soaps were out the window too - because if an argument broke out as part of the script (which they invariably did) he was either convinced he was being maligned in some way or that he needed to play peacemaker.

Come Dine With Me and any cookery programmes were also absconded. My husband was convinced I was cooking the same things and I was under constant pressure to 'up my game'

In the end we relied on David Attenborough documentaries, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, Last of the Summer Wine and Keeping Up Appearances - none of which I can stand to watch anymore as they bore me silly now.

The worst was last Christmas when I resorted to Christmas 24 regurgitating Christmas films 24/7 - it was the only thing I could have on day and night and know that if I managed to doze off for 10 minutes, nothing negative would suddenly pop up on screen!

In the end we mainly just listening to our own music collection rather than have the tv on - it was less stressful for both of us

 

[nae sporran]

WE hardly watch anything on TV anymore. I know what you are saying about adverts Northumbrian K as C thinks they are part of the programme and finds them rather boring and childish. Luckily she loves music, though some CDs are popular one day and not the next. You can't get too much of Elvis and Strauss.

 

[maryjoan]

WE hardly watch anything on TV anymore. I know what you are saying about adverts Northumbrian K as C thinks they are part of the programme and finds them rather boring and childish. Luckily she loves music, though some CDs are popular one day and not the next. You can't get too much of Elvis and Strauss.

Together??? A duet??? x

 

[marionq]

Well Elvis did sing Edelweiss and Wooden Heart which were both Teutonic in origin I seem to remember.

 

[nae sporran]

1

Together??? A duet??? x

Separately, C has varied tastes and does actually know the German words to Wooden heart. Elvis singing "Oh donau so blau, so blau" might be interesting though. Sorry, Northumbrian K.

 

[northumbrian_k]

I bought Dad`s Army and Only Fools and Horses DVD`s and we played them daily and laughed every time.

Some television programmes became reality. Come Dine with me was often a bit course and my husband didn't want to eat with them but preferred it if the two of us ate together.

It`s a bit like being a hamster on the wheel. The routine and repetition is so important for security.

We have been twice through all 11 seasons of Frasier on DVD (a trial as the last few seasons are not that great), watched Early Doors a few times as there aren't many episodes, the whole of the cult crime caper Crime Story, all 4 series of Line of Duty, and have seen Mrs Brown's Boys more times than I would like. As for Foyle's war, I feel that I know not just the plots but most of the dialogue as well. Nearly all of the new and much-hyped programmes are no good at all as they seem designed to deliberately confuse the viewer. Even Vanity Fair was a big miss as far as my wife was concerned.

To be fair some of the above are my choice and she often just dozes through them only to wake and take exception to one or other of the characters, usually a man and often one who is supposed to be on the 'good side'.

 

[Joyful]

Our evenings are now nearly always spent watching the television but it is getting harder to find something that my wife can enjoy. Dramas and thrillers she tends to take seriously as if they are factual. She likes quizzes and still correctly answers a surprising number of sometimes obscure questions. Stories strung out over several episodes are confusing because she can't remember that she saw the previous episode, never mind what happened in the plot. She has no interest in soaps or reality TV. Programmes on commercial channels are a problem due to the ad breaks and are best recorded so that the breaks can be skipped through. Comedies (Dad's Army and Frasier for example) and some documentaries are better.

She used to like some of the property finding programmes such as A Place in the Sun. But last night we had to stop watching Location, Location, Location because she said that she did not like the area (Bromley), was happy living in our house and did not see why we should have to move. Somehow the fact that other couples were looking for new places to live had got confused in her mind so that she thought it was us who had to move and this caused distress.

In the end it was up to Victor Meldrew to save the day, even if we have seen all of the episodes many times over and have the complete box set. Even then she could not sit still long enough to watch the whole programme.

My husband doesn't even like to watch the news as he thinks it's going to happen to him personally. He does like Love you garden and Pointless and golf (which he used to play). He loses concentration after a while and then can't sit still and wants to go to bed even if it is only 7 pm but won't go to bed without me. During summer it was ok we could go out for a little walk but he won't go out in the dark now. Difficult times .