Valerie & I did without one for most of our nearly ½C marriage. When she was missing for a while in China after Tienenman, a kind friend gave me an old B&W set to keep up with the news, & I took to The Bill (in those days a nice half-hour separate episode police-procedural) especially as a taker-off-of-anxiety resource.

My 2nd wife Emma & I share an interest in sport, and both like police soaps [Bill, Softly Softly, Frost, Endeavour, Vera, & such] for mild recreation, so we keep a big set for watching those. Nowadays I can't read much by artificial light without a lot of strain, & the telly helps to fill the evening. Old age, alas, brings the need for such compromises and accommodations!

But power to your abstinence, Dick. There are indeed, while one retains one's youth & vigour, many far more creative & satisfactory ways of using one's time & energies.

≈M≈