Channel surfing on holiday, I realised how regimented TV viewing has become

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Have you heard of the condition “bulging eyes”? Excuse my ignorance, but prior to a couple of weeks ago, I never had. I learnt about it while travelling around New York state, not from any medical professional or from anyone unfortunately afflicted, but because American television was constantly trying to convince me that I should be afraid of it.

Channel surfing.Credit: iStock

If you’ve never watched TV in the US, you would be astounded by how many ads there are for obscure life-threatening conditions and the medicines that could save you (though each of these medications come with side effect warnings that often include “excessive bleeding” and “high chance of death”, which dulls their appeal quite a lot). Most of the ads feature a friendly TV star like Henry Winkler or Anthony Anderson telling you about the rare disease that you should be guarding against. While I do understand that America’s complicated medical system and pharmaceutical industry makes advertising like this sort of normal, it was still unsettling. You might be thinking, forget about bulging eyes, why did you waste your trip watching television? I would counter this by saying that wasting time is the very essence of a successful holiday!

Watching television overseas holds a certain appeal, sort of like going to foreign pharmacies or inspecting cereal aisles in other countries. It fascinates me to look for place-specific variances reflecting different tastes, different norms and, sometimes, strange things about myself. (I promise I did things other than looking at TV screens, chemists and cereal boxes.) It occurred to me that I watch television in a very specific way when I’m on holiday. My viewing habits are very different from when I’m at home. Holiday Sinead is a lot more open to new things. Holiday Sinead is willing to give shows a chance. Holiday Sinead channel surfs.

This might not seem very remarkable, but I don’t think it’s uncommon either. When I’m away, my late-night TV viewing is much less regimented. I’m not sure if this is because I’m often away from my usual routine of local free-to-air and streaming services, but “keeping up” is less of a priority. This less organised version of seeking entertainment encourages a much more curious viewer. Suddenly the usual rules don’t apply. I remember once going away for a midweek country getaway and that night being glued to the finale of a MasterChef season that I had not watched a single episode of until that night. I had no idea who the contestants were and why I should care about them. And it didn’t matter at all.

There are many joys to passive TV watching and how it sort of dissolves the rules of proper TV viewing. The stuff you watch on holidays doesn’t need to correlate with your home self, your home tastes or things you watch so you can chat about them in the office (or hurriedly watch them as soon as they’re out, so you don’t get spoiled). Relaxation is the order of the day, so your priorities are a little different. And getting super invested in a show is not an option when you’re just looking to watch something in the 20 minutes before bed. Which I guess is how I ended up watching Mom.

Allison Janney plays a recovering addict who rekindles the relationship with her single-mother alcoholic daughter in the offbeat comedy Mom.

Mom is a sitcom that I had heard of, but had never seen. To be frank, I absolutely would never, ever have considered watching it if I had been at home. It was created by Chuck Lorre of Two and a Half Men fame, and let’s just say, that show is not exactly my brand of cereal. While I didn’t find Mom to be enormously funny (sorry Momheads) I did find the premise supremely interesting. Anna Faris plays a single mother who is a recovering alcoholic and gambling addict. She had her daughter when she was 17 and her now teenage daughter is pregnant with her boyfriend’s child. Allison Janney – yes, that Allison Janney – plays Faris’ mother, who has also battled addiction. A lot of the show is built around Faris and Janney’s Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and the group of women they’ve bonded with there … including Octavia Spencer. Who knew Mom contained so many Oscar winners!

Am I going to watch all eight (!) seasons of Mom now that I’m home? No, I am not. But my lack of decision-making and predetermined choice actually brought me to an unexpectedly interesting place. (How is this show a comedy? How can a program that depicts such challenging situations be one of the highest-rated sitcoms in the US?) It’s been said many times, but the volume of TV now, the binge model and the nature of online spoiler culture means that watching your favourite show can occasionally feel like homework. There is comfort in the familiarity of a routine, sure, but sometimes it eradicates any possibility of pleasant surprises. What would we really enjoy watching if we didn’t feel the pressure of keeping up? What actually entertains us or puts us at ease? Do we always need quality to be guaranteed, or could we occasionally be pleasantly surprised by an untested element? Even being appalled by something like an obscene local reality TV show or a hilariously bad Hallmark movie about carousel restorers can be a thrill.

While I was packing my case to come home I flicked on the TV and watched a couple of episodes of Parks and Recreation, a comedy that I knew I would love but had never gotten around to actually watching. It has stuck. I’ve been watching it ever since I came home. And this time, it’s not punctuated by ads about all the illnesses I might need to guard against.

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