The last few years have been difficult, but have also brought into sharp focus things that are important to be grateful for. Getting through lockdowns and isolating and having Covid and being ill at home would have been a lot harder without loved ones, community, and networks to rely on.
But it also would have been almost impossible to get through without another vital support system: television. TV. The telly. The silver screen. The box. The boob tube. OK, it’s getting too rude to continue, but you get the idea.
Last year, my girlfriend and I spent over a month on the couch in our small apartment after being hit with a terrible case of Covid. We were helped very generously by friends and family during this time, and it really got us through. But without Mrs TV (the name we gave to our TV), I’m not sure we would have survived at all.
If you are one of those people thinking right now “Television? No, I don’t want to rot my brain. Besides, I’m too busy looking at art”, congratulations on your monocle and top hat (I assume) and feeling superior to us – but I wouldn’t swap places for the world. Leave me here with my slowly atrophying brain: I am happy.
I love TV, and I always have. Not just watching it; I love talking about it, writing about it and now sometimes helping to make it. I love lots of different kinds of TV. I love turning off my brain, turning on my fun gland (not sure where this is, I’m not a scientist), and watching absolute trash.
Alternatively, I also love turning on my brain gland (not sure where this is) to watch all the shows we as a society deem as “good”. I also have perfect taste, in my perfect opinion. One of my favourite feelings in the world is enjoying a show, and then recommending it to someone else I know will love it and nailing it.
I’m happy to report I’ve just experienced that feeling yet again. For a long time, I have been a fan of the TV show Survivor (US), watching each new season as it’s released. For a shorter – yet still long – time, I have been trying to get my girlfriend to watch Survivor, knowing in my heart that she would probably love it.
It was a high difficulty level because she doesn’t really like people arguing and lying (reality TV), and isn’t naturally drawn to shows like that, but I had a gut feeling. My early vague attempts were unsuccessful, but just like contestants fighting to find the immunity necklace before the final tribal council (Survivor reference), I didn’t give up on my dreams.
My big chance came at the end of last year, when we finished watching the second season of The White Lotus and I realised I had a unique opportunity to finally get her involved. Season 37 of Survivor (it’s about to start its 43rd!), was themed David v Goliath – and Mike White, who would go on to create The White Lotus, is one of the contestants. That was enough to hook her in, and the show took it from there, immediately grabbing her – as I knew it would (smug emoji).
If you’ve never engaged with Survivor, I can imagine what it looks like from the outside, with its deeply unserious adult camp vibes. But it’s an intensely interesting and compelling game, and it’s cinematic, with moments that would seem hacky if you tried to write them. It’s been honed to a craft, and the people cast on the show now have been watching Survivor for years and know how to create good television.
Yesterday my girlfriend referred to Survivor as “the beautiful game”.
I’ve won. In a stunning move, thanks to Survivor, I had what I have termed a “television victory”.
Relationships involve negotiations, compromise, and communication -–and in real life that includes what TV you watch together, and how and when you watch. There are couples of all kinds entering into these negotiations around the world. One person wants to watch all of Drag Race, the other would prefer to walk into the woods and never return. One person wants to binge watch a show over a weekend, another prefers to eke it out one episode a week like a sociopath. One person likes spoilers, the other doesn’t.
Someone goes away for two weeks, and the other has to wait to watch ‘their shows”, or perhaps not wait and pretend they did. There are many obstacles to manoeuvre, a TV tightrope to walk in order to keep everyone in the home happy and satisfied.
But it’s all worth it. When you’re sitting on the couch watching a show you are obsessed with, and you look next to you and the person you love is deeply involved and enjoying it just as much as you? That’s TV magic, baby.
• Rebecca Shaw is a writer based in Sydney
