guys, all of you are missing the point - by several galaxies!
Lets look at it comprehensively - tv is said to be bad because it eats up family time. Haiya, but so does the bar, so does the newspaper that the mzee/or mama's Parents magazine brings home to read. Even the time out with the boys/girls. In short therefore, ALL substitutes to a man or woman having quality time with the family is bad (for the family)when done in the extreme.
So don't settle on the tv per se. A tv is merely an object, to be switched on and off at one's whims. if you cant switch it off at the right time you are supposed to be sharing with your family, then it is merely an indication of where your family ranks in your scale of priorities. You are no different from the other man/woman who is in his own world reading a paper/mag, out with the boys/girls or at the local.
It has nothing to do with the tv because it did not force itself on when you were having quality family time.
The tv, properly used and controlled, has many benefits - kids can use it as an educational tool (all those baabaa black sheep,do..a dear..a female deer..songs,etc) are good because they engages the kids intellectually & physically.
Tell me of a more bonding experience than the whole family watching together and occasionaly commenting on those Nat Geog features about how lions hunt...or laughing together uproariously at Olexander Josphat's antics...

r u for real.....ok..to be honest I have never imagined not having a TV...

Maich black....I wish u wa ma family

Damn...all those who have contributed to this thread....u made my day...who is still single and willing to be family...

@hindi ni riu, tuliza vuvuzela.
come feri feri sroore/slowly.

no one is advocating that family time is when all of you are staring at the tube 24-7-365, in much the same way no one is saying family time is going out to makuti-thatched joints 24-7-365.
To me quality family time is the time the family shares doing the mundane day-to-day things of life TOGETHER - be it sharing a meal, conversation, watching tv, travelling, going out, etc.