Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

The term couch potato has been with us long enough now that a dictionary editors recognize it as a permanent member of our lexicon. A couch potato, according to the American Heritage College Dictionary, is "a person who spends much time sitting or lying down, usually watching television."

As far as anyone can tell, the term was first used in July 1976 when Tom Iacino, one of a group of self-described "indiscriminate TV viewers," coined the word couch potato, applying it to one of his indolent Southern California chums.

Taken with the name and the concept, the group of TV addicts got off the couch to appear in the 1979 "Doo-Dah Parade," a parody of the Tournament of Roses event held in Pasadena. Assembing themselves on a float carrying TVs and "ceremonial couches," the couch potatoes lounged passively, unashamedly watching television for the duration of the parade.

Encouraged by the Doo-Dah crowd's enthusiastic support, the couch potatoes trademarked their name, marketing bumper stickers, caps, and stuffed couch potato dolls, even publising a newsletter called The Tuber's Voice: The Couch Potato's Newsletter.

And why the potato emblem for the couch lifestyle? Lumpy, heavy, and inert, the tuber lounges on its soft divan, training its many eyes on the television screen, for endless hours.

Radio Script > Couch Potato