There are times when I feel completely outside

the inner circle. I was sitting there minding my own business yesterday while everyone around me was talking about a television programme they had seen. It was some apparently popular show on commercial television.
Eventually the inevitable happened.
"What did you think of it Cat?"
"I didn't see it."
"You didn't see it? Oh you had to go out did you?"
"No, I just didn't see it."
"You mean you were watching something else?"
"No, I was doing some work."
"At that time?"
"Yes but I would not have watched it anyway. We don't watch much television."
"What do you do if you don't watch television?"
"Work, read, write, knit..."
"Oh, for goodness' sake Cat chill out a bit sometimes."
The group resumed the very earnest conversation about someone doing something and someone else's reaction. This is all apparently as important to them as it would be in real life. I am bored by it. There is no depth to the characters and their actions are predictable.
If an author approached a reputable agent with this they would be rejected. If an agent approached a publisher then word would go out that their judgment was questionable. According to the people I was sitting with the programme is "just like real life". I hope real life is not the way they were describing it. If it is then I live somewhere else altogether.
I do wonder about television however. A lot of it does seem trite and superficial to me. It irritates me. I cannot be bothered. I am thankful for the 'mute' button so that I do not have to listen to the advertisements on SBS. So far the ABC (Australian) has minimal advertising - of their own products. I suppose advertising will come as a way of paying for the service.
I like reading books. I like writing. I like knitting. My working life is frustrating but often rewarding. There are other things I enjoy.
I do not need television so why does it does leave me outside the conversation?