Believe it or not, there used to be a time when I watched hardly any television. I’m not sure how things are now, but when I was at Harvard (as if it were that long ago…) we had no cable TV in our individual dorm rooms and barely had access to local channels. So as you can imagine, I found other ways to occupy my time, including getting started on my DVD collection. That said, I did make sure to find a way to watch Boston Legal on a weekly basis and that is still one of my favorite shows of all time. In any case, during my time in Austin, I decided to see what the 24 hype machine was all about and ended up watching the first couple episodes of the very first season. I was instantly hooked and have been keeping up a steady rotation of various TV series ever since. Nowadays I’ve got a bit more time on my hands to devote to following various shows and I’ve also got cable to make things even easier.

Ok look, I’m not that bad (picture). Besides, we’re talking about what I do to pass the time and unwind when I’m not training, getting treatment or doing other triple jump related activities so I don’t feel too bad about the amount of TV that I watch (and this doesn’t even include watching sports). That rotation of TV series I mentioned includes a good number of shows that have come and gone (The Sopranos, Rome, The Wire, Lost, 24, Prison Break, Boston Legal, Flight of the Conchords, Dirty Sexy Money, Everybody Hates Chris) and an even longer list of shows that are still on air. Depending on the time of the year I tend to keep up with 4 or 5 shows including 1 or 2 that I’m late to get up on and am forced to play catch up with.

A couple of these series won’t be back until the spring or next summer (unfortunately) but at the moment here are the shows I follow on a regular/weekly basis. I know there are some other series that I should check out so don’t hesitate to make suggestions–

• Chuck
• Entourage
• Treme
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Smallville
• The Walking Dead
• Modern Family
• 30 Rock
• True Blood
• Weeds
• Lie to Me
• The Office

And in spite of all this TV, I still find a way to get everything done! So I’m not sweating it, especially since I haven’t started competing just yet.