“Man can only endure a certain degree of unhappiness; what is beyond that either annihilates him or passes by him and leaves him apathetic.” —Goethe

Why the long face? Must be because you’re watching too much TV. A recent study by the University of Maryland suggests that “unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves as ‘very happy’ spend more time reading and socializing.”

Now, as we all know, correlation does not prove causation, and it is of course possible to maintain a normal social life while regularly following several TV shows (especially with TiVo and TV on the interwebs). Also, this argument has surely been made before in the past, and it’s not particularly shocking. Nevertheless, I bring this up here in this grand forum dedicated to Overthinking(tm) popular culture, including television, since both our writers and our readers presumably watch a lot of TV. We have a whole category devoted to television on this site. One whole category.

So what say we? Are we a bunch of sad sacks?

Discuss while I watch the next episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. By myself. Followed by episodes 4-6 of The Wire. Also by myself. I’m so happy I have all this great TV to watch.