I love projects in which someone immerses themselves in TV for days on end to prove what a shallow medium it is. In the 1990s, environmental critic Bill McKibben wrote The Age of Missing Information in which he recorded all the television available to him on cable and broadcast in a 24 hour period, then watched all 1700 hours of it. He then went into the woods to go camping for 24 hours. Which experience would teach him more -- a day in the woods or 1700 hours of TV? Hint: Camping.
In the latest issue of the The New Yorker, Bill Buford sets himself a comparatively light schedule of watching a mere 72 hours straight of the Food Network. Woozy with overstimulation, he becomes entranced with the visual pleasure of making a salad. Also, he caps on Rachael Ray.
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