I killed my TV

I am unplugged.
No more television. I cancelled my service with the cable company yesterday. I wish I could say it's because of some high-minded idealism, a commitment to a better quality of life and a higher degree of sophistication to be gained by seeking information and culture via other, better sources.
Nope. Just broke. In the current version of modern society, television is a religion and truly serves as an opiate of the masses. But where I fit in right now to that current version of modern society, my mass simply can't afford to be opiated.
Considering how much tv I watch, it really is an unnecessary drain on my finances. I watch (rather, watched) a handful of shows on a regular basis, sporting events and news. If I want background noise, I turn on music so unless I'm sitting down for the express purpose of watching something, I don't even turn the thing on.
The cable company tried to talk me into keeping some kind of television programming. Did you know there's a level of cable below basic, where you get, like, three local stations? I didn't! It's cheap too, but they don't advertise it. Apparently it's only available to people who threaten to quit cable. I wonder if there's a level even lower, where you get one PBS station and it's in black and white. And Spanish. But I held tough. When I quit something, I go all out. Although, it occurs to me now that I should use some of the money I'm saving to buy an AM radio, since I live in Hurricane-waiting-to-happen-ville and wouldn't want to miss any evacuation orders. Then again, I do kind of envy the all-around attitudes of people who live in Key West, and they never evacuate. Hmm, let me think about that one...
At any rate, I am not one of those people who turn up their nose, roll their eyes and sniff, "ew, television". I've always felt those people are full of shit. I love television. True, there is a lot of stupid, awful, stupid, ugly and stupid programming on right now, but the shows that are good are as good or better than anything that's ever been on. In my opinion, anyway.
So I'm going to miss some things but probably not a whole lot. Here's a look at what I'm giving up and how I feel about it.

• ABC - Lost. Ouch. That's going to hurt. I've invested...what is it, five years or something?...into seeing where this thing is going. With one season to go, I gotta know how it ends. I will either rely on the kindness of friends to invite me over or have to wait for the DVD.
• CBS - Big Bang Theory. I like it, but I can live without it.
• NBC - The Office, Parks & Rec, Community, The Tonight Show. I'm pretty sure NBC airs everything on their web site. So that's cool.
• FOX - The Simpsons, 24. I think The Simpsons is winding down anyway and 24 comes out on DVD eventually too, where I can watch as many episodes in a row as I want.
• FX - It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. I can get episodes via iTunes.
• Comedy Central - Daily Show, The Colbert Report. The only shows I watch on that channel. For a comedy channel, they sure show some horseshit movies. Full episodes of both shows are available online.
• MTV & VH1. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
• ESPN. I'm over ESPN anyway. They've been a little full of themselves as a brand for some time now and their blatant favoritism for certain teams in certain sports at the expense of everything else that's going on is obnoxious and off-putting.

So I think I will probably survive.