Television actors are really nice people. Every day, they come to my home, shrink themselves down to doll size, and perform their mini-theater plays right in my living room. They are even kind enough to bring their own sets, props, and costumes. I hear they do the same thing for millions of other people; nevertheless, I feel no less special and privileged.

For a lot of people, TV is a form of cheap entertainment and a good excuse to put their feet up in a recliner, while munching on chips and swilling beer. To me, though, it is a form of art – or mini-theater. Instead of going to an actual theater, decked out in my Sunday best, or recreating the crammed-sardine feeling of an airplane in a movie theater, but with much stickier floors and seats, I like to enjoy this particular art form from home – in full affirmation of what was once known as cocooning.

The "plays" performed inside my little box are often no less captivating and literarily challenging than those on Broadway, and they come in digestible portions of 30, 60, and sometimes 120 minutes. But the best part of it is that, thanks to DVRs and similar newfangled technology, I can assume the role of director and call "cut" any time I feel like it. And if I really want to live it up, I can make those actors go faster or speed up the time set aside for the intermissions.

Unfortunately, the very gadget that allows me to do all these things is what has prompted TV networks and executives to predict the imminent death of television – at least of television as we know it. You see, when millions of viewers use their DVRs, TiVos, etc., to avoid commercials, the networks lose out on the valuable eyeballs that are supposed to be riveted to their advertisers' and sponsors' product promotions. Not a sustainable model, many TV insiders wail.

Adding to the problem of declining advertising revenue and ratings, most TV shows can be bought on DVD just before the next season starts. Those who have not figured out how to work a DVR or TiVo, therefore, exercise patience and figure they will simply wait for the DVD to come out. Then, they watch an entire season's worth of their favorite show in single weekend.