The similarities between television viewing and fantasy activity (daydreaming, reverie, mind-wandering, internal dialogue) more than warrant the building of a theoretical construct, especially in the context of recent empirical research on television viewing consequences. A construct of the television viewing process, based on cognitive theories of fantasy activity would be based on the following similarities between television viewing and fantasy activity: (1) their physical correlates, such as eye fixations and relaxed, low arousal states; (2) their nonvolitional and effortless natures; (3) their lack of evaluative operations; (4) their allowances for sampling viewing styles (viewing may occur concurrently with operant activity, or in alternation with directed thought); (5) the adaptive character of their content; and (6) the lack of responsibility or obligation to act on or reply to what is presented. Although normal television viewing seems to facilitate behaviors analogous to self-generated fantasy, acceptance of the construct of television viewing as fantasy activity places logical limits on the value of the "perceived reality" approach to assessing viewers' responses. (RL)