Remote possibilities: Turn off your TV, turn on your spouse?

(CNN) -- What happens when people turn off the TV for three weeks? They turn to their spouses, newspapers and religion.

At least that's what an educational TV show found in a novel experiment on a small island in South Korea, according to a report in the newspaper Don-A Ilbo on Tuesday. The study concluded that folks who turned off the tube reported having richer lives.

"My eyes used to be glued to the TV but now I look at my wife, and find her prettier than before," the village leader, Choi Dae-mun, told the newspaper. "I help her put skin pack on her face at nights. Life's become more fun."

The "TV Off" study was hardly scientific. It looked at what happened when 28 residents from 10 households turned off the television in Darang Island.

At the onset of the experiment, a TV production crew taped sheets of paper that said "Banned" on TV screens. They also placed surveillance cameras to make sure participants didn't sneak a peek at their favorite shows.

After the experiment ended three weeks later, residents found that they didn't slide back to their old ways. They read more, prayed more and spent more time engaging in conversations with their spouses.

One resident told the newspaper that he spends his time reading stories with a neighbor's grandson.

"My wife used to find it hard to read, but we studied together, which was all the better," said a resident who gave his name as Han to the newspaper. "With our eyes gone weak, we prefer children's books." E-mail to a friend

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