With the end of a homework-less, stress-free, sleep-filled summer, we also wave goodbye to those summer weeknights of re-runs and re-runs and…you get the idea. So while a new school year brings the return of essays, tests, and late nights, it also gifts us with a thoroughly enjoyable escape from all of that: our favorite TV series.

While I’m personally looking forward to the return of Grey’s Anatomy, my college essays and Edline account may not agree.

Each fall, with the arrival of the new prime-time line up, I find my DVR stuffed with fluff that is much more appealing than endeavors like homework, reading and exercise.

As I escape from my room for a mid-study snack, I’m drawn to the family room when I hear the faint dialogue of Modern Family growing louder with each step. Entranced, I step into the room, promising myself I will only stay until the next commercial.

From there on out, it’s a downward spiral of flimsily self-imposed regulating: I’ll stop at the next commercial break. Ok I’ll actually stop at the next one. No really, this time…

While television is one of America’s biggest time-sucks, it holds this title for a reason. We love TV and watch so much of it because it’s so darn easy. It offers the exact opposite of what we do all day: think. After a full day of demanding discussion, tough tests, and a packed planner, don’t we all just want to sit down and watch Ellen read some funny tweets?

If you think about it, watching TV takes even less brainpower than doing absolutely nothing. Sitting on the couch and staring at a blank wall leaves you alone with your swirling, possibly productive thoughts. Television removes all those ideas for you, leaving you blissfully brain-dead.

Personally, I need TV to relax and sometimes even to regain my sanity. I often find that I am more productive if I take a TV break after school than if I simply dive straight into the night’s homework.

I usually can get four hours of homework done in four hours if I toss in a half-an-hour TV break. But I might end up slopping through the same workload in a five-hour time span if my over-stuffed, sitcom-starved mind constantly wanders away from the textbook for minutes at a time.

So the moral of the blog is that we all need a break, and there’s no harm in briefly indulging yourself in your favorite series. It can even be beneficial. Welcome your favorite characters back with open arms and without guilt, because even Whitman students deserve a little time spent away from the books.