My living room still has 3 TVs but I have regrets

A year ago, I stunned the world by revealing a shocking truth. Two televisions in one place are superior to one. And a third TV can make the room even more beautiful. Here’s more. It’s not my intention to talk about the possibility of adding a fourth television to my living space (at least not yet). But I am here to share the truth of the three-TVs lifestyle — and how it has, at times, made me question my decision to do it at all.

While three television sets in a single room is clearly the next evolutionary step for our species, maybe humans aren’t ready for that kind of power just yet. Maybe, when Icarus flew too close to the sun, it wasn’t the wings of Daedalus that were flawed, but Icarus himself. It was both. )

To catch you up, my wife and I have perfected the modern living room. Our home has a single entertainment centre with two TVs on each wall and one smaller TV that is located above them and below them. The small TV is hooked up to a modest soundbar, and we have what feels like 3,000 remotes scattered around us at any time. Every TV has its own Roku and is used in the following way: My TV plays games (left), while my wife watches a movie or shows (right). It’s the Triforce of living room entertainment.

Image: Ryan Gilliam

But living in this wonderful environment has not always been easy. I am humble enough to admit that my errors. This is especially true in cases, like this one, where the error is in human attention spans, not my own design. I have defended myself against criticisms of how noisy my setup is, and how irritating the remote location. These are all fair points that were put out there by cowardly voices who don’t want to accept the TTTVVV lifestyle. But it’s time to break bread with you on this, internet: Do we really need three TVs?

In the last two years I have noticed a decline in my attention span. Sure I’ve watched and re-watched many shows while playing and re-playing games. It’s been a lot more than the average because I always kill two birds with one. But I’ve often questioned how much I’ve been able to enjoy these shows that are on in the background, and I’ve definitely ridden off a cliff or two in Elden Ring because I was too engrossed in what was on the third TV.

Perhaps it’s age, or just the constant prattle of information from a million different sources, but at times I feel overloaded. I often enjoy the moments in the living room when I’m alone and I can just put on a game and ingest its story without anything else going on. I can focus on a single thing for just a few hours and enjoy it as a whole piece, not something broken up and smashed together like a kid getting a spritz of each kind of soda from the gas station fountain.

But this problem isn’t limited to three TVs. I was looking at my phone while watching movies with my dad 15 years ago. When I had only two televisions, I found irrelevant information on the internet. I added multiple monitors for work and school years ago, all in the name of “productivity,” despite mostly using the second monitor to watch YouTube videos while I play Destiny. It’s an attention span issue, and not one that I invented. My setup is simply an extension of that mindset, and I’ve already begun to find ways to push back against it.

Over recent months I have started to assess which shows and games I care about without being distracted. When I’m playing a game for review, or I’m just interested in its story, I won’t play something on the top TV. If my wife is playing a game on the other TV, she might put in headphones and listen to a podcast. I might play something less stimulating while my wife watches a TV show. Then, I will switch to something that I want to concentrate on when I am alone.

Image: Ryan Gilliam

I will combine old games and new shows. Or I will rewatch an episode I know every word from while learning something new. To make it difficult to glance at my phone while watching a movie, and to not give random commentary, which is also a bad idea, I will go to the cinema to see an anticipated film. I watched Moon Knight without playing anything in the background — just me, Oscar Isaac, and IMDB open on my phone, as god intended. It was great fun. But I also watched every episode of Hell’s Kitchen last year while replaying Breath of the Wild and watching my wife play The Witcher 3 for the 50th time. These experiences have been a wonderful experience for me. One isn’t possible without multiple TVs, but both are possible with my setup.

When I told my wife how much I enjoyed watching Moon Knight without distraction, I shared that sometimes I wondered if three TVs was the way to go. She said, “Yeah it’s amazing, you know that.” And she’s right. It doesn’t matter if I have a smaller setup. I can adapt to the amount of setup that I use. We’re all distracted by something, and that’s OK. There’s no right or wrong way to absorb media that you care about. I can insist that you have to keep your eyes glued to the screen while watching The Shining, one of my favorites, but if you enjoyed watching it in the background, what’s the difference? This isn’t school, and there won’t be a test following the screening.

Icarus burns even when he has the right wings. What could’ve saved Icarus — and what can save all of us — is the self control to moderate our own ambition.