Say goodbye to Jenga and hello to Grey's Anatomy

How many of you reading this can honestly say that you are free, Monday-Thursday, from 8-11 p.m., to watch TV. Neither am I, but that is when the vast majority of popular TV shows are on the air. Oh, if there were only a way to watch TV shows in the privacy of your own room at the more reasonable hours of 2-4 a.m. Ten years ago, students at UR were probably faced with this very predicament. So how did they cope with missing the episode of Boy Meets World when Corey cheated on Topanga by kissing a ski lodge employee? They chose to not let TV shows govern their lifestyle.The passing of time, however, has brought upon new opportunities. Our generation has On Demand and TiVo to help them “keep up” with shows. Then there are downloading sites where you can download many of your favorite TV shows and, more recently, TV streaming sites, in which you can “stream” TV shows instantly. With these new accommodations, students are able to make TV a vital part of their existence – they are no longer restricted by time commitment or accessibility. Before these revolutionary advances, you’d have to schedule your day around a TV show. Now, you can fit that TV show into your day at the most convenient time. Had a rough day? Why not watch last week’s episode of “The Office” from tvlinks.voodeedoo.org to help lighten the mood and put your life into perspective. I want to believe that a decade ago, students at the University would have spent their Thursday nights doing something worthwhile, such as going to a Jazz concert in Eastman, spontaneously organizing a trip to Niagara or playing Jenga. Today, students huddle together to watch “The O.C.” and if you don’t believe me, just check the away messages of all the girls on your buddy list between 8 and 9 p.m. next Thursday. Guys watch it too, but it is a well-established fact that for a man to admit to this would be a slight to his manhood.But I completely understand the necessity of making TV shows a facilitator of social interaction. Without the communal watching of TV shows in my suite, I would hardly ever see a couple of my suitemates. Furthermore, the show “Lost,” turned two of my suitemates from enemies into friends. They never used to talk to each other – now they talk non-stop about that show. They even do homework together in each other’s rooms, but only with “Lost” in the background.My suitemates represent only a couple of the endless examples of how TV shows have become an integral piece of our social realities. There is a bond formed between two people who like the same TV show. For example, take the girl that I had a crush on all throughout high school. I got my money’s worth when she agreed to slow dance with me during my Bar Mitzvah, but, after that, I got nothing from her but utter rejection. With the passing years, this rejection did not abate, as I was one of only six students in my grade who wasn’t invited to her graduation party. Fast-forward to last summer, when during a makeshift high school reunion, she overheard me talking about the show “Arrested Development,” and she immediately swooned. By the end of the reunion, I had her number and an open invitation to have an “Arrested Development” sleepover party at her house. Though I would later use the piece of paper with her number as toilet paper, it doesn’t replace the fact that in my six year quest to capture a Philly, I need only to have turned to TV shows as my method of taming her. Can someone’s like or dislike of a TV show truly be an accurate indicator of their personality and emotional depth? I recently overheard a classmate say that her boyfriend was a sensitive guy because he watches “Grey’s Anatomy” with her. Could I say that I am, by nature, inquisitive, because I watch the show Veronica Mars (which chronicles the adventures of a young female detective). Am I shallow for obsessively watching the TV show “Next” on MTV? Ultimately, TV shows are nothing more than modified social commentaries. Nevertheless, I leave you with the following warning: don’t let TV shows dominate the way you live your life or manipulate the way you think, because when this happens, your sentiments may become as meaningless as toiletpaper. Schwartz is a member ofthe class of 2007.