Going gold turkey: TV challenge update

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This article was published 28/10/2023 (1074 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WEEK 1 of the Free Press TV elimination diet challenge was no walk in the park. Or rather, it might have helped to have involved more walks in the park.

As a longtime TV fan and occasional critic, I have begun a four-week challenge with the hopes of evolving from sofa-bound, mindless, TV-watching zombie to a more sociable, more active occasional connoisseur of thoughtfully selected TV.

Week 1 of the Gold Turkey Challenge (not a typo, but rather an optimistic spin on an extreme cold-turkey TV elimination diet) called for journalling to establish a baseline. But even keeping track of my TV viewing — one to seven hours a day! — brought on waves of panic, mindful that on Sunday, I will begin a week of TV fasting.

So while I thrilled to stream the latest new episodes of Reservation Dogs (Disney+) and The Morning Show (Apple TV+) — and binged all three seasons of Party Down (Crave) — it felt a little desperate and twitchy, feeling something like ordering a favourite meal before execution.

It was not helped by the discovery that, after having cut the cord and cancelled my cable, my flatscreen TV is too old to import any new apps, so is limited to very slow navigation of Netflix and Prime Video. My sofa now feels a bit like a desert island.

And the list of things I should do with all the free time, like take a walk in the park? Avoiding it like a radioactive pellet. I’ll deal with that starting Sunday.

If you’re also shaking up your TV world and joining the challenge, share your own observations, suggestions and questions via email to denise.duguay@winnipegfreepress.com or snail mail to 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6.

And on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m., the Free Press welcomes all challengers to gather virtually for a TV postmortem on our YouTube channel at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 29 (wfp.to/tvchallenge), where I will share my own experience and highlights of any feedback already sent in, as well as fresh feedback and all of our final thoughts.

denise.duguay@winnipegfreepress.com