routine. It's a like a part of your family. A family member you happen to talk about behind their backs, but a part of the family nonetheless.
That's when it gets cancelled -- the day it means something. The men in control leave you scrambling for a replacement, a filler of that void, and you latch on quick.
That's how shows like "Big Brother" get such a response: the fact that "Survivor" is almost over, not to mention the sex aspect. Whatever gets you off, I guess. Some lick eyeballs, while others watch Survivor.
Me? I just watch all my friends watch TV, then babble for six pages or more before I'm forced to go to bed from sheer exhaustion. Oddly enough, I'm one of the more likely to be a Prozac candidate.
Ironic, isn't it? If it isn't one thing, it's always something else that has the same outcome through a different medium...