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Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy do not let their children watch television.

Posted August 26, 2008 by Audrey Turcot with Tommi Lewis Tilden

TV or not TV? That is the question a lot of parents, including those of the celebrity persuasion, grapple with.

Whether 'tis nobler to plop your kids in front of Sesame Street or have them learn how to amuse themselves, is another.

With even childcare experts divided on the topic, it's no wonder that, as with any confounding dilemma, every parent handles it differently. And, in Celebville, where lots of the stars earn their big bucks because of TV, the conundrum can get even more baffling.

Two very vocal proponents of letting little ones tune out are Desperate Housewives' star Felicity Huffman and her famed movie star hubby, William H. Macy. They do not let their kids watch television. Period.

As Macy, who, ironically, lends his considerable vocal talents to the animated PBS show Curious George told a roomful of reporters at a 2006 Television Critics Association conference, "My wife and I are big fat movie stars, so we have wonderful nannies. My kids don't watch TV. We decided that they wouldn't watch TV until they can read."

In 2002, while promoting Minority Report in Berlin with the film's director, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise told the press corps that, "I really don't like [my kids, Connor and Isabella] to watch that much television, we're focusing on reading, a lot of reading. They are allowed about three and a half hours of television per week -- if they do very well in their school."  Spielberg, on the other hand, said that once his kids did their homework, chores, had bathed and were ready for bed, they were allowed to watch one hour of shows.

Emmy winner Helen Hunt, who's banked big bucks thanks to clocking seven years on Mad About You (to say nothing of syndication royalties), echoes Macy's sentiments when it comes to her 4-year-old daughter, Makena Lei. "She's never seen TV or a movie yet, ever," Hunt told a somewhat surprised if not supportive David Letterman last April. "I admire the idea to protect the child from the onslaught," responded Letterman.

Then, of course, there's Madonna who's famously outspoken on the topic. The material mom told Newsweek in 2005: "I was raised without television. [My children] watch films, and my daughter always has her nose in a book. I don't get the sense that they feel deprived. I don't know why that's shocking."

It's not shocking, really. Just hard for real-life moms to fathom.  Heck, even Madonna's good pal and pantheon of "living well,"  Gwyneth Paltrow, reportedly kicks back with her kids to enjoy Big Brother.

How, oh how, can one be expected to entertain the kids ALL DAY without Ernie or Fred Flintstone or SpongeBob lending a hand, at least once in a while?

Enter Ellen Curry-Wilson, a self-professed TV-aholic, who, for the good of her child, kicked the habit. Her book, The Big Turnoff: Confessions of a TV-Addicted Mom Trying to Raise a TV-Free Kid, has received rave reviews and prompted many others to follow suit.

It wasn't easy at first to conceive of activities that could act as a "babysitter" the way television had. But Curry-Wilson got creative. "I know how hard it can be to get things done. When my son was 1, I pushed up a chair to the kitchen sink and gave him some cups to rinse beside me [and so on]. Naturally, working with him was more time consuming and messier than working without him, but by expecting him to work along with me, he became an active part of the household," she says.

Evidently, Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has no problem letting his kids veg out from time to time.  In a recent Entertainment Weekly interview, the Senator said that his daughters are Hannah Montana fans, but "they can still hang with SpongeBob Square Pants. And I have to say, SpongeBob is pretty funny."

(Editor's Note: In the interest of bi-partisan coverage, chez John McCain, the bill of fare is typically Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Wire. And no, he no longer has young ones at home.)