Summer time provides a hiatus from TV viewing

It's officially May sweeps, the time of the year where all of the shows bring out the big guns. Whether it is a promise of a major guest star or the promise of a major death, networks want you to want to tune in to their shows.

This time of year for the avid television fan is rather bittersweet. While you're getting some of the best TV there is to offer, summer is coming up soon. Here's my blueprint layout for the summer.

I am on season six of "Beverly Hills 90210." I have been on it since last May, because honestly it's not that good. But once you've gotten over half way through a show, you really need to keep going.

My first goal this summer is to get through the tenth and final season of the original "90210."

While this seems like a lofty goal, I have a feeling if the weather is as bad as the last two summers, I won't have a lot of conflicting emotions about spending my whole day inside.
This goes back to my column about when to quit a television show. The original "90210" hasn't done any of the arrestable offenses in my book. It's just passed its peak, and is seriously missing Shannen Doherty. My obsession with her is unhealthy, I know. I'm enlisting in a 12-step program.

I plan to watch the only two decent summer shows in my book, "True Blood" and "Burn Notice." These are the perfect summer shows, as they don't force you to think too much and are mostly visual popcorn. They leave you satisfied, but is there really any nutritional value to them?

But going from the depressingly high amount of television I currently watch to two hours I might need to branch out to other modes of entertainment.

I've always promised myself I would watch the American Film Institute's top 100 before I die. It isn't that hard, I've just managed to miss some movies that I need to see.
I've never seen a Kubrick film, and my viewing of Alfred Hitchcock's films have been few and far between. I like "Psycho," "Rear Window," and "The Birds," I just have always assumed I would see them in a film class or elsewhere.

There have also been some movies I missed over the course of the year like "Sherlock Holmes." My love for Robert Downey Jr. will make this an unendingly entertaining film. His and Rachel McAdams' presence will surely make up for Jude Law's. I admit that is a polarizing statement, but I just can't stand the guy.

There's another thing I've been planning on doing for a while that I haven't gotten to in a while.

I'm going to go outside. I look like an albino from Iceland and my television viewing habits haven't changed that much. I love the outdoors, forgiving the allergens that ruin my life every year. But armed with Claritin D and some sunscreen, I plan to be outside more than inside this summer. BBQs and the beach have been calling me for years.

My unfortunate love for television, and some laziness have however prevented me from answering their siren song.

I am taking summer as a break from my Ali Larter style obsession with television. I might not even start my cable until September, okay maybe August; just to be sure it's on, for the return of my stories. I need a break from the 1984 style television habits I've accumulated. You know you've watched too much television over the course of a year when the commercials seem familiar. So for once I'm encouraging you to put down your remote, even just a 50 percent reduction will help. Go outside and enjoy something other than what you watch all year.

Stuart Ross can be contacted at sross@keeneequinox.com