The Thing: the idiot box is now bigger and badder than your average smart phone

Just because you can watch TV on your smart phone doesn’t mean you should

Television studios spend fortunes shooting in high definition, creating special effects and paying good-looking actors—and it’s not so their shows can be watched on iPads. This season, passive viewers and diehards alike should consider watching TV the old-fashioned way: on TV. The wafer-thin Samsung Plasma 8000 Series isn’t game changing, but it does exactly what a TV should do in the age of the Internet. It has built-in Wi-Fi so you can stream shows without cumbersome commercials or awkward network scheduling, and it comes loaded with social media apps like Skype and Facebook, so you can discuss The Office’s new boss with friends in real time. But the best part is that you can do all of that on a blisteringly sharp 64-inch plasma screen—the kind of screen that makes even the latest iteration of The Bachelor seem worth watching. With 26 weeks of new episodes ahead, it’s time to start clearing your social calendars. Samsung Plasma 8000 Series 64-inch TV, $4,000. Bay Bloor Radio, 55 Bloor St. W., 416-967-1122.