depends on what you watch. Some things call for mind bleach. But gaming is not that passive sitting around. Well, there is that real time game Voyage to Alpha Centauri, but...
I don't watch TV, because I don't have one. There're enough commercials and news for entertainment outlets on the WWW. But, I don't watch those either
But, I do play and condsider games for digital devices, in my case only PC, the most advanced software applications, in every aspect of multimedia software development, excluding highly specialized scientific digital modeling and analisys apps. Here is what games provide, in most cases for less than $50 bucks: Art, 2D/3D graphics engines, AI engines, MP engines, digital motion video, live interaction with the AI of the game or with other players to learn, solve problems, relax or just have fun. Some even get pay to play.
And yes, there are good, bad, dumb, stupid, and outright dangerous games especially for young children. Many games have hiden messages and agendas such as promoting certain ideas, products and habits like addication. There're many highly educated and skilled manipulators in the game of developing games. But, the same goes for the rest of cyber world - Google, Facebook, MS, Apple, IBM .. etc. They play their own MP games on the global scale to win influence, acces, power and money, while gaming every one and anyone along the way - kids, men, women and all other gender benders