So, what is it about television that makes it addictive?  Dr. Humphreys gave us the research on brainwave activity, but that is only a part of the puzzle.  If it is simply that watching television gives the feeling of relaxation that makes it addictive, network producers wouldn't always be scrambling to create new shows.  

Let me give you example of what I'm talking about.  I was at a friend's apartment one afternoon and was flipping channels to see what was on TV.  On one channel was a movie that we'd both seen a number of times before.  We started watching the movie.  

When a commercial came on my friend said, "You know, I've seen this movie a bunch of times.  I even own the video. I can watch it anytime, we could even watch it now without commercials.  But the fact that it is on TV right now, I feel I have to watch it." 

I had to agree I had the same feeling.  I had no desire to watch the video, but I was compelled to watch the TV.  Even though we could watch the video on the same TV and therefore get the same "relaxing" affects, and even though watching the video meant we wouldn't be interrupted, we chose to watch the TV.

I also have to admit wasting countless hours watching programs I had no interest in while waiting for something good to come on.  Even though I have the option of watching a video or DVD in the meantime, I choose to watch boring television shows.  I choose meaningless viewing over purposeful viewing.

So is it the feeling of relaxation that TV gives or is it the promise of "something good" that may or may not start in the next half hour or is it the sense of urgency attached to the knowledge that the show we are currently watching will soon be over and we might miss something - even if we've already seen it before?  Or is it Pavlovian?  Is television addiction something we learned as children?  Or is this all just part of the nature of addiction?  And what do we do if we are addicted?