Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for January 16, 2015

First, no Calvin or Hobbes.Second, I stopped watching TV news when the OJ trial started.

The news doesn’t change much.

I went out of my way to miss the television circus but I knew what was happening a day late because I read the papers.

Same in newspaper!!

Calvin and Hobbes minus Calvin and Hobbes!

Just like we have Garfield minus Garfield! :D

Jumping TVs are simply no match for newspapers when it comes to enjoyable and informative news stories.Maybe. I watch neither, so I’m not exactly an expert.

I think I stopped watching TV the day of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In our house, we selectively record what we might care to see, mostly documentaries about nature and the odd film. (Very odd film.) Then when we sit down to watch, we can delete whatever isn’t to our taste, and fast forward through the commercials too.

We pulled the plug in 1995 when we moved and didn’t want to pay cable bills. Raised our kids without television, though we did have video tapes. They turned out well, had friends in school, and never seemed to miss it.

Wonder what paper he’s reading though. I was never too impressed by any I came across in the US when I lived there ~1990. The local paper advertised itself proudly ‘We put West Chester ahead of the world’.

We got a shortwave radio and listened to BBC World service.

“We’ll get the story” is not the truth when they shove the microphone in the face of a grieving mother and ask, “How do you feel?”.Or when they chase after a politician caught in a scandal, surprised when he or she has no comment.

In the last panel, Calvin’s dad is studying an ad for polka-dot furniture.

Click here (or stretch image): Ziggy (March 22, 1991)Click here: Reality Check (October 13, 2011)Click here: Pearls Before Swine (July 16, 2011)Click here: Peanuts (January 8, 1966)

I enjoy TV, but try to be selective. Retired, but working as a substitute teacher, I am amazed how very little high school students know about current world situations. They don’t get their news off the internet, they watch mindless television, and they sure don’t read newspapers.

Unfortunately, the newspaper was dishing the same dirt, so he put it down and went online….ahhhh!

I always liked the dancing TV in Calvin and Hobbes. And it has rabbit ears, no cable.I wouldn’t mind watching TV occasionally, but there’s no reception where I live without cable, and I decided that the cable bills weren’t worth it. I can do okay for major news stories over the Internet, but still need the paper for the local news.

Sometimes I shock people by not being up on the latest scandal all over the news, since I never watch the news any more (except the weather sometimes if there’s a reason to).

It’s funny how many Calvin & Hobbes fans do not watch the news on TV (except maybe that one guy here who for some reason seems to think high school students should watch the news). What do Calvin & Hobbes fans and people who refuse to watch TV news have in common?

After viewing a couple of “eye witness” news reports, I would call them “I’m witless” and no longer watch. I finally gave up cable and broadcast TV in 2000.

The problem is all the tv stations are competing with each other for viewers and that means you need a sensational crisis every day to exploit. My tv died a few months ago and I’m experimenting going without. I listen to NPR on the radio for intelligent discussion without the hype and don’t miss tv at all.

That size tv would be perfect for a skeet target.

20 years later, still relevant. >_>

Gotta love the way Watterson drew TV’s. But what would he do with today’s huge, HDTV’s? The family would have to run for their lives when those start jumping.

Montgomery County has become a haven for protection – whether they deserve or desire it. Liberal (and not used in the political sense) spending for programs catering to anyone who feels entitled and imposition of imagined “good.”

Born and raised here, proud and loved it but now don’t like what it’s become and ready to move out.

Rick said: “What do Calvin & Hobbes fans and people who refuse to watch TV news have in common?”Every day, Calvin and Hobbes fans turn on the TV, hoping to find an animated Calvin and Hobbes special, or see an ad that tells them where to buy a stuffed Hobbes, or hear a news item reporting that Bill Watterson has returned to cartooning. When those things don’t happen, they exclaim, “There’s never anything good on TV!”. Then they spend the rest of the day and night on GoComics.

Fortunately, my TV keeps its feet on the ground. I don’t want to know where Dad got his.

Is it any wonder why Calvin’s dad doesn’t like watching TV.

Been without for only 4 years, and only watched pre-recorded movies before that. The constant commercials and inane shows I am subjected to when at a friend’s house make my skin crawl.

Just imagine how annoying it would be to watch a TV that bounces.Much as I love C&H, it’s never at its best without Calvin. Or with Neo-Luddism.

The Born Loser is in complete agreement today.

I also enjoy some TV programming and my wife and I do watch some drama series with some regularity; however, rarely do I watch any so called “situation” comedies and never tune to any of the “news only” channels basically because we have only direct broadcast “antenna TV”! We do have a huge DVD & BluRay collection and watch quite a few films, some dating back as far as the silent era..Regarding those who comment sarcastically on any of the news channels, such as Fox, CNBC, etc.; if you find these programs so miserable, why do you watch them?

Time for them to get a flat screen, much easier to draw

Having been a newscaster (on radio, not TV) for most of the past 20 years, I can concur with the sentiment of today’s strip. There’s a saying in the business: “If it bleeds, it leads.” Sad but true that positive stories are ratings killers, which says as much about our audience as abiout us.

Anyway, did anyone notice that while Dad turned off the TV, he was reading a newspaper? And that’s an improvement?

Re-read it. There’s no “R” in the first word.

Televised news has all the integrity of a politician. ’Nough said?

Always have loved the levitating TV in C&H.Dad has made the right choice for info gathering.To the naysayers above, I recommend the NY Times for accurate reporting. Yes, there is a small amount of liberal bias, but it’s minimal and present only because they actually know what they’re talking about. Avoid the Op-ed page and you should be fine.As for really local, small-town news of where I live, there is no alternative to the local weekly. Reporting is scarce and investigative journalism nonexistent, but it’s amazing how interesting this stuff gets when you pay property taxes. I never had any interest in it when I was a teenager, so I don’t blame today’s teens for not caring about it either.Yes, TV generally is a wasteland, but it is the best way to follow sporting events, and occasionally there are documentaries worth watching. What bothered me was how addicting it is. Thirty years ago, when a former roommate moved out and took his TV with him, I was greatly disturbed by how miserable I was for two weeks at not having a TV in the house. That was when I decided to greatly reduce my time with one. Since finally buying a TV 24 years ago I have spent more time listening to radio, reading, and web browsing than I have in front of the TV.

The rest of you stopped watching TV and the news, we have not with much going on in the world. Cannot bury head as all will go away. Antenna works wonders. Hubby loves his cable. I like dramas.

I rarely watch TV after cutting my cable, except for football. Nothing good to watch when I’m home, and he stuff that I may want to see is on while I’m at work.

I would try going without, but it’s the only thing I have that my nephew would like when he’s over, and I need the screen for my console games.

We recycle.

The daily scare, it’s on at 5 and 6 every night.

This strip is so right on, and it’s only gotten worse since it was first published.

Back in high school (many centuries ago) we were taught how to read a newspaper. For example, where did the story appear? What size was the headline? How many inches of print? Was it a right-hand or left hand page? How many sources were used? Were the anonymous? How many direct quotes vs. paraphrases? Etc.

We had to read 2 papers and follow the same story in each (this was NYC in the 1960’s when some papers had both morning and evening editions). As a result, I am very critical of what I see in the paper and even more suspicious of what I don’t see in the paper.

Journalistic quality has gone downhill a lot in the past 50 years. Even basic grammar and mathematical concepts are lacking.

For example if 40% of the people like A and 30% of the people like B and 30% of the people like C, then according to today’s journalists either a majority of the people like A or a majority of the people hate A (it doesn’t matter that A would be acceptable to everyone).

Likewise, fact checking has gone out the window.

..what’s. That thing he’s holding..?..;)(He usually reads a book…)

a few years ago i was addressing a group on how media leads to stress in and fear of, life. many in the audience were a bit skeptical of my speech but did accept the 6 month challenge I laid out for them on how to reduce their stress and fear. the follow up discussion 6 months later was an impressive proof (at least with this group) that ‘watching’ rather than ‘reading’ or in other words the type of media you are exposed to/interact with can very much impact the amount of stress and fear that are generated in our thoughts and actions. someday if i am able i would love to do or see done, an extensive scientific study on how information media (tv, radio, video, video games, internet, newspapers, books, etc) and what has been labeled ‘social media’ impact our perception of life and our health.

Excellent decision, Dad!

xxx

Stopped watching TV news when they decided format was more important than content. The one exception, BBC world news.

Where’s Hobbes or Calvin? We didn’t pay to watch Dad. Not to mention we didn’t pay at all.!

Stopped watching cable in ’04, only download select series episodes from http://watchseries.ag/OnlineSeries

@Nun ’Ya Bidness: Thanks for the Nancy tip. Snoopy is drawn quite well.

It’s on the news, so it must be true!

Yeah, we raised all 6 of ours without tv. The baby is a high school senior now, and they all came out ok.

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”

Groucho Marx

Why does the TV bounce so much when it’s turned on?