In retrospect, it astonishes me that I remained addicted to TV Guide for as long as I did, long after I'd abandoned most US TV in favor of the UK TV that was available mostly on PBS (the NYC Metro market having 3 PBS stations with different schedules and different specialities). Although I collected other magazines, I had the sense not to collect a weekly digest whose information was transient. I subscribed for a while, but subscription copies often arrived late, so I went back to buying it in the supermarket. In our area an issue would usually appear on the supermarket rack on the Tuesday before the week that it covered, so I always did my food shopping on Tuesday. Now that everything I watch is streaming, making schedules mostly moot, it is very difficult for me to put myself into the head of someone who did what I did. Even with my streaming, I never watch series where episodes are doled out weekly. I refuse to play that game. I'll start a series only when all of the episodes are up, often watching a series long after it has been uploaded. I AM an amateur student of culture, and I think the TV Guides interested me as cultural artifacts long after they were useful as guides for what to watch.
In that Seinfeld episode where Elaine has an admirer who collects TV Guide, Elaine dislikes him and the only one who has any empathy of George's father, who,as I remember, also collects TV Guide. But is was a good piece of pop culture and getting more respect all the time. Great piece.
In retrospect, it astonishes me that I remained addicted to TV Guide for as long as I did, long after I'd abandoned most US TV in favor of the UK TV that was available mostly on PBS (the NYC Metro market having 3 PBS stations with different schedules and different specialities). Although I collected other magazines, I had the sense not to collect a weekly digest whose information was transient. I subscribed for a while, but subscription copies often arrived late, so I went back to buying it in the supermarket. In our area an issue would usually appear on the supermarket rack on the Tuesday before the week that it covered, so I always did my food shopping on Tuesday. Now that everything I watch is streaming, making schedules mostly moot, it is very difficult for me to put myself into the head of someone who did what I did. Even with my streaming, I never watch series where episodes are doled out weekly. I refuse to play that game. I'll start a series only when all of the episodes are up, often watching a series long after it has been uploaded. I AM an amateur student of culture, and I think the TV Guides interested me as cultural artifacts long after they were useful as guides for what to watch.
In that Seinfeld episode where Elaine has an admirer who collects TV Guide, Elaine dislikes him and the only one who has any empathy of George's father, who,as I remember, also collects TV Guide. But is was a good piece of pop culture and getting more respect all the time. Great piece.
When I went off to summer camp as a kid, I asked my mother to save all the issues of TV Guide so I could read them when I got home.