The world of television

Why is it that people get so hooked into television? As mentioned before I have mum here for 2 weeks and I have notice how the older generation get hooked into TV. Is it because their live has become boring and they can only find TV for comfort, or is it that the programs they watch are so addictive that they have to watch it? Do they know what is real and what is fake, these are the things that I have been wondering. I think that TV takes away too much of the family time, that once we held so dear, I wish for those days to come back.