The Cast and the Couch

“What is your favorite way to spend an evening? … Last year, when more than 2,000 survey participants answered this open-ended query, many of them described a very different kind of scene: a night at home, cozied up with family. When researchers analyzed the long answers, they found that 43 percent of respondents mentioned time with family or a romantic partner—the most common activity, tied with watching a TV show.” (This was exactly how my wife and I spent our evenings, until we watched all of TV. Now we’re in a holding pattern.) The Socializing That’s Replacing Friend Time.