Cable TV was the perfect way of watching TV, and it's now been ruined

The Outline

There was a freedom in having a lack of choice before the Peak TV era, says Robert Silverman. "When television stopped being mindless drivel, or led directly to chronic mind rot, something was stripped away, if inadvertently: for me at least, a way to turn off my oh-so critical brain, a diversion in the best sense of the word," he says. "Now that it’s an art form, well… watching carries a burden. It is an articulation of my aesthetics and tastes. And, as such, choosing becomes an act of violence that cleaves away an entire universe of other, possibly superior, non-chosen paths."