TVs, also named Television, is a large, household electronic device existing both in real life and in the Pokémon franchise.
Description
TVs are commonly used to watch shows for entertainment. However, TVs also provide a vital purpose of broadcasting the news, being able to inform the populace of any ongoing events or local disasters. Most TVs in the Pokémon franchise have no major difference from those in real life. However, as newer models of TVs have been introduced over time in real life, this has sometimes been reflected within newer Pokémon media, namely how only CRT TVs appear in releases up to Generation IV, while only widescreen TVs appear from Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version onward.
In terms of gameplay, TVs are interactable objects in every game of the core series. A majority of TVs display only a fixed message, usually just to quote a few lines of dialogue from the show it is playing. All TVs in Generation I and Generation II consistently show only a few lines of dialogue. In the player's house, there is typically a TV upstairs in their bedroom, with the latest Nintendo console of the time connected to it, and a television downstairs. The downstairs TV of the player's house is often unique, not by appearance, but by playing a film which references one in real life, as suggested by a few lines of dialogue.
TVs are usually objects, but they have sometimes had the role of being items. In certain games from Pokémon Ruby Version and Pokémon Sapphire Version onward, the player can purchase a TV as a decoration for their Secret Base. In Pokémon FireRed Version and Pokémon LeafGreen Version, there is a television item named the Teachy TV, which has shows where the Poké Dude teaches some basic gameplay mechanics.
A TV has the largest role in Pokémon Channel, since a lot of the gameplay requires the player to watch TV with their Pikachu.
Appearances
Core series
Generation III and remakes
In Pokémon Ruby Version and Pokémon Sapphire Version, Pokémon Emerald Version, and the remakes Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, the first TV is watched by the player in their new home in Twinleaf Town. Here, just after the player checks out their new room, their mom prompts them to come quickly since the player's father, Norman, is having a live interview on TV. However, the player misses the interview and sees only the concluding lines of dialogue.
In the original Generation III games, TVs can mostly just be interacted with only after certain actions, such as record mixing, or when a certain event occurs, such as the Blend Master arriving in Lilycove City (in Pokémon Emerald Version only), a sale at the Lilycove Department Store, or during a Pokémon Swarm.
In Cove Lily Motel, a motel within Lilycove City, there is a TV on the ground floor that the player cannot interact with because there is a man standing two squares away from it, so it the player steps between the man and the TV, he promptly pushes them out of the way, being unable to see the television screen.
In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, television broadcasts are done by TV Mauville.
Generation IV
In Pokémon Diamond Version and Pokémon Pearl Version, Pokémon Platinum Version, and the remakes Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl, a major television broadcasting network was added, Jubilife TV, from which shows are broadcast throughout Sinnoh.
There is one TV in the Old Chateau where the player can encounter Rotom during the night only. In Pokémon Diamond Version and Pokémon Pearl Version, the player is also required to have the National Pokédex in order for Rotom to appear.
In Pokémon Platinum Version only, the Villa has its own unique widescreen TV.
Spinoffs
Pokémon Stadium 2
In the "My Room" feature of Pokémon Stadium 2, the player can view their bedroom, including their TV, from a Generation II core game connected via the Transfer Pak. The TV displays a static texture of a screenshot from a first-party Nintendo game, which varies depending on whether a Nintendo Entertainment System, a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, a Nintendo 64, or a Virtual Boy is connected. For instance, having a Nintendo 64 connected can display the title screen of Super Mario 64.
Pokémon Channel
In Pokémon Channel, the game opens with an Ordinary TV being delivered to the player's house by a group of Magnemite. Professor Oak has chosen the player to be a test audience for his developing television network, the Pokémon Channel. Soon, a Pikachu shows up and enters the player's house, deciding to watch TV with the player, among other activities. At one point, Pikachu gets excited and uses Thunderbolt, destroying the player's TV. The only replacement that Oak has at first is the Retro TV, which displays the screen in black-and-white, and has also has a group of Magnemite deliver it to the player's house.
By the second day, Oak has an Ordinary TV delivered to the player's house, once again by a group of Magnemite. From hereon, the TVs do not have a role in the plot, but rather the broadcasted channels instead.
Also, from the second day onward, a variety of TVs can be bought at Shop 'N Squirtle, most of which are modeled after a certain species of Pokémon. The TVs are usually priced either 
100, 150, or 200. Some of these TVs affect the picture display. The Pikachu TV is the most expensive TV, being priced at 500, despite having no additional effect. The price marks appear to be arbitrary in general and are not based on anything in particular.
The following TVs can be bought from Shop 'N Squirtle:
| TV | Cost | Based on | Additional effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aipom TV | 150 |
Aipom | None |
| Hoothoot TV | 200 |
Hoothoot | The picture is displayed green and black |
| Hoppip TV | 150 |
Hoppip | Clouds appear onscreen |
| Lanturn TV | 100 |
Lanturn | The screen is illuminated by a flashlight |
| Marill TV | 200 |
Marill | Raindrops fall onscreen |
| Meowth TV | 150 |
Meowth | None |
| Mudkip TV | 150 |
Mudkip | Similar to the Marill TV, but water falls in front of the image |
| Pikachu TV | 500 |
Pikachu | None |
| Smoochum TV | 150 |
Smoochum | Has a pink filter |
| Stage TV | 150 |
Stage curtains | Stage curtains cover the screen while the TV is off |
| Sudowoodo TV | 200 |
Sudowoodo | Has a brown filter |
| Sunkern TV | 100 |
Sunkern | Has a yellow filter |
| Voltorb TV | 100 |
Voltorb | None |
| Wooper TV | 200 |
Wooper | None |
| Wynaut TV | 100 |
Wynaut | Rainbow effect |
The player keeps any TV they obtain, including the Retro TV. Only one TV can be out at a time, but the player can change which one from the Poképad, accessible from the Start menu.
Uniquely, while the Meowth TV is out, Pikachu gets defensive, a reference to the rivalry between Ash's Pikachu and Team Rocket's Meowth in Pokémon the Series.