As many of the columns I've written would indicate, I'm moderately obsessed with television. Oh no, not in a "Hi, my name is Josh and I'm a TV-aholic" sort of way, much more in a "I don't have a problem turning off the TV… really" kind of way. You see, I could turn the TV off anytime I wanted to, I just don't want to. Plus, it doesn't impact my life in any sort of a negative way, I've actually managed to build a career out of my obsession. To be a sommelier one has to be somewhat obsessed with wine, but that doesn't mean that a sommelier is an alcoholic.
In fact, I might argue that I'm not quite obsessed enough with television, that I haven't spent quite enough time watching and studying and learning and spending every waking minute with television. How have I come to that conclusion? I find myself unable to score higher than 75% in David Hofstede's Obsessed with TV: Test Your Knowledge of Every Channel book/game.
Part of an ever-expanding Obsessed with line from Chronicle Books, Obsessed with TV is a book which contains 2,500 television-based trivia questions and a little screen in the lower right corner which allows players to select a multiple choice answer. The game allows for one or two players and can either choose a question randomly or allow the user to select a question. Players are asked everything from the relatively easy "Which actor provided the voice of KITT, the talking car on Knight Rider?" to things far, far more difficult. At least, they were far more difficult for me. The questions tend to require very specific knowledge of television shows, things one either knows or they don't. While some answers can be worked out by process of elimination, the vast majority don't lend themselves to SAT-style test-taking skills.
For those whose television knowledge is limited to specific genres or categories, the book is divided into sections (though the random questions that get chosen come from all). Chapters exist on comedies, dramas, reality TV and game shows, action, sci-fi and fantasy, kids' shows, music and variety, TV icons, awards, and a general "anything goes" category.
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