system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
You deleted your comment by the time that I was done replying, but I'll paste it here:

&gt; most people assume gaming has to be a much larger time commitment than a TV show, and I'm wondering why that is.

Not *time* commitment, but *attention* commitment definitely. Most people consider watching TV as a passive activity and gaming an active one. They do other stuff while watching TV, like chores, paperwork, research, etc. This is the "adult lack of time" that your friend was talking about.

EDIT. A lot of r/ImTheMainCharacter  syndrome in the replies. You are not representative of all people. Congrats on watching TV with 100% of your brain.
gpt
Yup, learned the hard way (multiple times) that I'm not able to text'n'drive while racing 300mph in GTA. But most people are, at least kinda, able to browse fb while watching some show.